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7 .? 






“For the land’s sake !’’ said Mrs. Burton 


S'he Littfe ‘Runaways 


^fice Surjter Curtis 

cAufUor o/*V>4orJoHe’s Wcry^ctc. 


I€(ustrated RutA Rodins 



Tfhe (Penn. ‘Pwbfisfting Comparvy 

CPftlCadeepSia MCMVl 


LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDies Received 

WAY 2 1906 



Copyright 1906 by The "Penn Publishing Company 



The Little Runawaya 


Contents 


CHAP. page 

I Cathie’s Arrival 5 

II A Visit to Miss Pitts 17 

III Phinny Trot . 29 

IV Cathie Wins 38 

V Making a “ Dinah ” 46 

VI An Unexpected Visitor 55 

VII Phinny and Mrs. Burton 66 

VIII Miss Pitts’ Plan 76 

IX Finding Phinny 85 

X Making Friends 95 

XI Going Fishing 106 

XII A Chance for Phineas 117 

XIII Phinny Sees a Bear 126 

XIV A Broken Promise 136 

XV Miss Pitts’ Picnic 147 

XVI A Day of Trouble 155 

XVII Mrs. Burton Hears About Relatives . 165 

XVIII Mrs. Burton’s Surprise 177 

XIX The Birthday Party 189 


3 


\ 


i 


Illustrations 


PAGE 

For the Land’s Sake ! ” Said Mrs. Burton 

Frontispiece 


Get Right out, Cathie, ” She Said 44 

The Boy did not Move 90 ' 

Phinny Stooped and Picked up the Rifle . . . 142 
Mr. Goddard came out to Speak to Them ... 179 ^ 


The LIftle Runaways 


The Little Runaways 


CHAPTER I 

CATHIE’S ARRIVAL 

Mrs. Burton sat down by the east window, which 
faced the road leading to the village, and leaned back 
in her comfortable rocking-chair with a sigh of con- 
tent. 

“ Soap-making is a dreadful job,” she said aloud, 
although there was no one to respond to the remark. 
“ I declare it is,” she continued, after a moment’s 
silence, “ my ashes didn’t seem as good as common 
this year. The way that lye acts I shouldn’t say 
there was a bit of strength to it.” She swayed back 
and forth leisurely and turned an appreciative eye 
toward a crab-apple tree near the window, now cov- 
ered with fragrant pink blossoms. 

“ I ought to have ’tended to that soap six weeks 
ago,” she said, “and if I lived where neighbors had 
an eye on me I s’pose I should have had it all settled 
before this warm spell came on. Tending the fire is 
5 


6 


The Tittle Runaways 

dreadful trying this weather. It needs younger knees 
than mine to be snooping around after chips and peer- 
ing into the kettle. There are times,” she continued, 
“ when I wish that the Higgins family had turned out 
differently. Amanda was the only one I ever could 
like, and I never knew what became of her. If there 
had been a likely boy in the family I would have 
adopted him, being as the Higginses are my nearest 
relatives. Now I wonder what child that is.” 

Out on the dusty road a small figure was approach- 
ing. It was a little girl in a blue-checked gingham 
dress. She carried an umbrella and walked briskly, 
although she had already journeyed for several miles 
on foot, and the day was warm. 

Back of Mrs. Burton’s house on the slope of a hill 
was the apple orchard, and as the small traveler 
neared the cottage a backward tilt of her umbrella 
allowed her to see the flowering mass of blossoms. 

“ My ! ” she said, stopping to get a better look at 
them, “ ain’t that hill pretty. And that brown house 
set right down under it. I guess I’ll stop there.” 

Mrs. Burton was still watching the small figure, had 
noticed the tilt of the umbrella and the brief stop, and 
was now leaning out of the window to get a better 
look at the child. 


T'he Liittle Runaways 7 

“ Little girl,” she called, finally, waving her apron 
out of the window to attract her attention, “little 
girl, it’s dreadful warm, don’t you want a drink ? ” 

At the sound of Mrs. Burton’s voice the child halted, 
and set her bundle on the ground, furled the good- 
sized umbrella, and then picking up the bundle came 
toward the front door. 

“Go ’round to the side door,” called Mrs., Burton, 
in a reproving tone. The girl nodded and turned her 
steps toward the side door, which opened into the 
kitchen. 

“Well,” said Mrs. Burton, with a smile, as she met 
her visitor at the door, “ you have chosen a warm day 
for your journey.” The girl smiled back and said, 
“ Yes’m.” 

“ Come right in out of the heat,” continued the good 
lady ; and she noticed that the child wiped her feet care- 
fully on the rush mat outside the kitchen door. 

“Were you going far?” asked Mrs. Burton, after her 
guest was seated in the cool living-room and was hap- 
pily engaged with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. 

“I was coming here,” replied the girl, taking a good- 
sized bite from a fat cooky, and turning an anxious eye 
toward the umbrella and bundle which rested upon a 
chair near the door. 


8 


The Little Runaways 

“ For the land’s sake ! ” said Mrs. Burton. 

Her visitor apparently did not notice this exclama- 
tion, and kept on with the cookies. Even in her sur- 
prise Mrs. Burton noticed that the child did not drop 
any crumbs on the carpet, holding her knees upward 
in a most uncomfortable position that her scant checked 
gingham skirt might catch every crumb. 

“ What were you coming here for ? ” 

“ Didn’t you expect me ? ” asked her visitor, turning 
a smiling look toward her hostess. 

“No, indeed,” answered Mrs. Burton, “I never saw 
you before in my life. I don’t even know your name.” 

“No, ma’am.” 

“ Well, what is your name ? I hope you ain’t a Hig- 
gins ! ” said Mrs. Burton, in sudden dread lest one of 
the much despised family of cousins had appeared be- 
fore her. 

“ No, ma’am,” replied the girl. 

“Well, what is your name, and who are you, and 
where are you going ? ” 

The little girl had finished her milk and cookies. 
She set the glass and plate upon a stand near her 
chair, and then carefully gathering up her skirt, said : 
“I’ll just step to the door and shake these crumbs 
out.” 


The Liittle Runaways 


9 


“ For the land’s sake I ” said Mrs. Burton. 

In a moment the little girl was back, and had seated 
herself again. This time she smoothed her hair care- 
fully back from her forehead, folded her hands in her 
checked gingham lap, and said, “ I was eight years old 
yesterday. My name is Catherine Berry, and I have 
come to live with you.” 

She smiled upon Mrs. Burton, as if she had just 
made the most delightful announcement possible; 
and, as that good woman did not at once respond, 
she continued : 

“ In my bundle I have another dress just like this, 
two nightgowns, and three handkerchiefs, and the 
umbrella is mine, so you won’t have to buy anything 
for me.” 

There was another pause and Catherine, thinking 
that Mrs. Burton’s surprised look might be accounted 
for by the fact that she, Catherine, had arrived bare- 
headed, again spoke. 

“ I didn’t like my hat, so I left it.” 

Mrs. Burton leaned so far back in her rocking-chair 
that she nearly tipped it over backward. She and 
the chair regained their balance with a visible effort. 

“ Where did you come from ? ” she asked steadily. 

“ From Boston.” 


lo ‘The Tittle Runaways 

“For the land’s sake. Boston is a good seventy 
miles from here.” 

“ I had a ticket,” nodded Catherine, with her ready 
smile. 

“ Where to?” 

“ To Cumberland Junction.” 

“ That’s five miles from here.” 

Catherine nodded again. 

“ Who gave you the ticket ? ” continued Mrs. Bur- 
ton anxiously. 

“ I found it.” 

“ Found a railroad ticket ! ” 

“Yes’m. I found it on the sidewalk the day we 
was took to Franklin Park for a picnic; and Josie 
Smith told me what it was. She’s a big girl, most 
twelve. And she said if I was to go to the Northern 
Station in Boston and get on a train that in about 
two hours I’d get to Cumberland Junction.” 

“ Did she tell you about me ? ” asked Mrs. Burton. 

“Yes’m.” 

“ Well, I never ! ” 

“ She didn’t tell me exactly about you,” explained 
Catherine, “ but she said to get out of the train at 
Cumberland Junction and walk along till I came to a 
nice-looking place with flowers and trees, and where 


"The Liittle Runaways 


11 


there was a nice-looking woman, and then to go right 
in and stay.” 

“ But you came past a dozen houses between here 
and the Junction ! ” objected Mrs. Burton. 

“ I didn’t see any I liked,” smiled Catherine. 

“Where’s your father and mother?” continued 
Mrs. Burton. 

“ I’m a norphan,” replied the little girl. 

“ There ! ” said Mrs. Burton, “ I was sure of it ! And 
you’ve run away from an asylum in Boston ! ” 

“ Yes’m,” replied Catherine. 

“ Well, you’ll have to go straight back ! ” 

Catherine turned a surprised look upon her hostess. 

“ They don’t want me ! ” she said, “ they have been 
trying to get somebody to take me ever since I was 
little. Josie Smith was took last week, and having 
the ticket I thought I could find a place.” 

“ You’ll have to go straight back,” repeated Mrs. 
Burton firmly. 

Catherine slid off the chair and walked toward her 
bundle and umbrella. 

“ I’m much obliged for the cookies,” she said. 

“ You’re welcome,” responded Mrs. Burton. 

“ Perhaps you’ve got a little girl already ? ” said 
Catherine, looking toward Mrs. Burton. 


12 The Tittle Runaways 

“ No,” said Mrs. Burton. 

“ Then I s’pose I don’t suit,” said the child. 

“ How are you going to get back to Boston ? Pity’s 
sake, I forgot that you haven’t any ticket. Sit down, 
Catherine. I’ll have to think how to get you back to 
Boston. Didn’t you know that it was wrong to run 
away ? Come here, child,” for Mrs. Burton’s heart 
had softened at the sight of the little figure ready to 
take up the bundle and start out. 

Catherine went close up to the rocking-chair and 
leaned against its broad arm and smiled up at Mrs. 
Burton. 

“ Have you any little boy ? ” she asked. 

“ No,” said Mrs. Burton. 

“P’raps you’d rather take a little boy. There’s 
some nice little boys at the ’sylum. Phinny Trot is a 
real nice little boy.” 

Almost unconsciously Mrs. Burton’s hand went out 
and smoothed back the reddish brown hair from the 
child’s forehead. 

“ What makes you think I want a little boy or a 
little girl either?” asked Mrs. Burton, slipping her 
arm around the little figure and drawing it into her 
lap. 

The child cuddled down with a little sigh of content. 


The Tittle Runaways 


13 


“ Once a lady held me like this,” she said slowly ; 
“ she thought she’d adopt me and she took me home 
and I stayed all night, and she rocked me to 
sleep.” 

“ Why didn’t she adopt you ? ” questioned Mrs. 
Burton. 

“ Her husband didn’t want any little girl I ” 

“ Humph,” said Mrs. Burton. 

“ Have you a husband ? ” questioned Catherine. 

“ Ho,” said Mrs. Burton. 

“ Then I s’pose you don’t want a little girl like me.” 

Mrs. Burton made no answer, but rocked smoothly 
back and forth. Her thoughts were busy. Boston 
was a large city. How was she to find the asylum 
from which Catherine had wandered ? 

“ I’ll have to go to Boston with her myself, I sup- 
pose,” she reflected, “ and that soap only half made.” 

As she rocked and thought, almost unconsciously, 
Mrs. Burton was humming an old-time nursery-rhyme. 
“ Hush, my child, lie still and slumber,” and looking 
down at the little figure in her arms she saw the eyes 
close, and in a moment Catherine was asleep. 

“ Poor little thing, walking way over from the Junc- 
tion. I expect she’d be a sight of company, and not 
much trouble either, judging from her careful ways 


»4 


"The Little Runaways 


about crumbs. I don’t see how I can journey up to 
Boston with that soap just as it is ! I might write to 
the city missionary about her. There ! That’s just 
what I will do. I’ve had correspondence with him at 
Thanksgiving time, and he’ll know just what asylum 
has lost a child. I’ll write to-night and have the Jones 
boy mail it, and tell those asylum folks to send some- 
body right down here after Catherine. ‘ Holy angels 

guard thy bed ’ ” and Mrs. Burton looked again at 

the flushed little face resting against her arm. 

The long afternoon was nearly over before Cather- 
ine awoke. It was then too late, Mrs. Burton decided, 
to send a letter that night ; so Catherine was told that 
she was to stay all night, and the child trotted after 
her about the kitchen while Mrs. Burton prepared sup- 
per, telling about the big kitchen at the ’sylum ; and 
about Phinny Trot. As they sat down at the small 
round table Catherine looked across at Mrs. Burton 
and said : 

“As you haven’t any little girl or any little boy, and 
as I shall have to live in the ’sylum always, after you 
send me back to-morrow, let’s you and me just play 
that you are my mother to-night ! I’ll say, ‘ mother, 
can I have some more jelly ? ’ and you’ll say, ‘ yes, 
dear,’ just like a truly mother. Will you ? ” 


"The Little Runaways 


15 


Mrs. Burton smiled. “ Why, I don’t care,” she said, 
“ only after supper I shall say, ‘ Now, my little girl 
must go to bed good and early, because she has had a 
long walk to-day,’ and then you must say, ‘yes, 
mother.’ ” 

Catherine drew her shoulders forward and nodded 
her head with delight. 

“ Yes,” she said, “ and let’s forget all about my going 
back till to-morrow comes. Just as if I was really 
going to stay.” 

When the time came for Catherine to go up-stairs 
to bed she took the bundle and umbrella with her. 
“Josie Smith gave me this nice umbrella,” she said, 
looking admiringly at the somewhat dilapidated and 
faded cover. 

Mrs. Burton helped the child prepare for bed, opened 
the windows which faced toward the blossomy orchard, 
and said good night. Catherine’s little hand grasped 
at her apron as the good woman gave her a good-night 
kiss. “I wish I was the kind of a little girl you 
wanted,” she said. 

Mrs. Burton kissed her again, and went thought- 
fully down-stairs to her seat in the comfort- 
able rocking-chair near the Eastern window. “Now 
if one of the Higgins children had been like that 


i6 The Liittle Runaways 

I — well, I don’t know,” she said to herself. “ ‘ Just 
like a truly mother.’ Bless her heart.” And 
Mrs. Burton wiped her eyes hastily on her 
apron. 



CHAPTEK II 


A VISIT TO MISS PITTS 

“ I don’t see how I can afford to take her,” thought 
Mrs. Burton, “ but there, I don’t know as it takes any 
great amount of wealth to bring up a child. I guess 
she’d be full as haopy as if I sent her back. I’ve got 
an excellent garden under way, and if we have any 
hay crop at all I shall have enough to pay my taxes 
and ready money on hand. Land, that child wouldn’t 
make me a bit the poorer, and I believe I should take 
comfort with her. 

“There’s nobody to say aye, yes, or no, to any- 
thing I want to do,” continued Mrs. Burton, “and 
she’d be somebody to talk to. I get dreadful tired of 
hearing my own voice and nobody answering back. 
I’ve a great mind to let her stay a spell, anyway. I 
can write to the city missionary all about it, how she 
came here and all, and say that I have decided to 
keep her through the warm weather, and when fall 
comes we’ll see ! ” 

So Mrs. Burton wrote the letter, and when the 

17 


i8 “The Ljittle Runaways 

Jones boy came by the next morning she gave it to 
him to mail. 

When Catherine awoke it was just daylight. The 
first sound she heard was a drowsy twitter of birds, 
that nested in an elm tree whose branches came near 
the windows. As she lay thinking about the birds, 
she began to sniff at the fragrance of the apple 
blossoms that came in at the open windows. Then 
she sat up in bed and looked about the room. The 
fioor was painted yellow. Between the windows was 
a light stand covered with a white linen square. In 
front of the stand was a braided rug. In the corner 
of the room stood a high chest of drawers. There 
was a white linen cover on the top of this, and an- 
other braided rug in front of it. Opposite the bed 
stood two straight-backed chairs with rush bottoms, 
and a long, narrow rug covered the floor in front of 
the bed. Catherine looked about the room approv- 
ingly. “ My,” she said to herself, and then sliding 
quietly out of the bed she tiptoed to the window and 
looked out. The apple trees looked to her like huge 
bouquets. She drew in a long breath of the fragrant 
air, and then crept softly back to bed, to wait until 
she was called. 

“ When I first woke up,” she murmured in a whisper- 


T^he Runaways 


>9 


ing tone, “I thought for a moment I was really 
’dopted. I wish I was. Just think, if I was going 
to sleep in this lovely room every night, and call the 
lady ‘mother.’ I guess Phinny Trot would like to 
live here. I guess the lady don’t want any little boy 
or any little girl either. But I’m glad I came. I can 
remember about this nice room, and about the apple 
blossoms, and I’m most sure there is a kitty in this 
house ! ” 

It seemed a long time to Catherine before she heard 
a step on the stairs. Mrs. Burton had a bright tin 
basin in one hand and a pitcher in the other. Over 
her arm hung a long towel with a blue border. She 
set the basin and pitcher on the little stand, and then 
took a cake of brown soap from the pocket of her apron. 

“ Spring right up,” she said with a smiling nod at 
Catherine. “ I was so surprised to see you last night 
that I didn’t think about your bath. So now here is 
plenty of water and soap and you give yourself a 
good scrubbing while I step down-stairs and bring up 
a comb. You didn’t think to bring a tooth-brush, I 
suppose.” 

“ No, ma’am,” said Catherine. 

“ Well, we’ll go to the village to-day and get you 
one.” 


20 


The Little Runaways 


“Am I going to stay another night?” asked 
Catherine eagerly. 

“ Why, yes. I thought perhaps you’d like to stay 
all summer, that is if the asylum folks were willing ; 
I’ve sent a letter to find out.” 

Catherine drew her shoulders forward and clasped 
her hands. “ Oh,” she said, “ they will be willing. 
They have wanted somebody to take me for years 
and years. That’s one reason I was glad to find the 
ticket. They want Phinny Trot took too,” she con- 
cluded. 

Mrs. Burton handed her the brown cake of soap, 
but made no reply. 

While Catherine was lacing her shoes she saw her 
chamber door move slightly, and in came a big white 
cat. 

“ Oh, kitty ! ” said Catherine under her breath, and 
waited hopefully. The big cat looked about the 
room, and then walked slowly over to the little girl 
and rubbed its handsome head against her arm, look- 
ing up at her with its friendly yellow eyes. Catherine 
stroked it gently, and the cat purred appreciatively. 
The little girl forgot about her shoes, about the comb 
and brush, and that Mrs. Burton was waiting for her. 

At the asylum a long, lean, frightened cat had ap- 


The Tittle Runaways 21 

peared from time to time in the yard, but never 
before had Catherine stroked a cat, or even seen one 
as beautiful as this dainty creature who was so ready 
to be friendly. 

“ A kitty ! ” she said to herself, “an all white, clean, 
fat kitty,” and she sighed with pleasure. “ And I am 
to stay all summer ! ” she reflected happily. 

Just then Mrs. Burton appeared at the doorway. 

“Well,” she said, “so Princess has found out that 
there is a little girl in the house.” 

“Oh, is her name Princess?” 

“ Yes.” 

“But I thought princesses were always fairies?” 
said Catherine. ^ 

“Not when they are nice white cats,” said Mrs. 
Burton ; “ but seems to me I heard a story, a fairy 
story, of course, a long time ago about a beautiful 
white cat which was really a princess ! ” 

“ Oh, tell me about it ! ” said Catherine, scrambling 
to her feet and lifting the white cat in her arms. So 
Mrs. Burton sat down on the side of the bed, with 
Catherine and Princess close beside her, and told the 
story of a bad fairy who waved its wand over a beau- 
tiful princess and changed her into a white cat. But 
the cat was so beautiful that the queen, the mother of 


22 


The Tittle Runaways 


the princess, always kept it with her, and one day a 
good fairy came along and changed the cat back to 
a beautiful princess again. “And your hair isn’t 
combed, and your shoes are not tied, and we haven’t 
had breakfast, and we’ve got to make soap,” con- 
cluded Mrs. Burton. ^ 

In a few moments they were down-stairs and ready 
for breakfast, with Princess curled up in a sunny 
window. 

“Are we going to pretend to-day?” asked Cath- 
erine, looking at Mrs. Burton wistfully. 

“ Why, I guess we might as well,” responded Mrs. 
Burton smilingly ; “ you see I’m going to make soap 
to-day. I had my lye-barrel all set yesterday, and 
to-day I shall have to keep a little fire going under 
the big soap-kettle out in the yard, and if I had a 
little girl of my own I should certainly have her pick 
up chips around the old wood-pile for me. Of course 
I wouldn’t ask a little girl who was visiting me to do 
it, but my own little girl I should set about it right 
after breakfast. Now, I will give you your choice; 
you can be a visitor and do as you please, or you 
can pretend to be my little girl and do as I tell 
you.” 

Catherine’s shoulders came forward again, and she 


T'he hiittle Runaways 23 

bounced up and down in her chair. “ Oh, let’s pre- 
tend, — mother ! ” she said. 

“Yery well, my child,” said Mrs. Burton, “I will 
just clear away the breakfast things and you can take 
that basket on the back porch and step out to the 
wood-pile and pick up chips. Don’t go near the lye- 
barrel ! ” 

Catherine got the basket and, followed by Princess, 
started out. All the morning Mrs. Burton and Cath- 
erine were busy about the soap. The little girl had 
never seen soft soap made before, and thought it a 
very wonderful proceeding. 

In the afternoon Mrs. Burton put on a fresh cotton 
dress, and Catherine put on the clean gingham she 
had brought in the bundle, and they started to walk 
to the village, which was nearly a mile from Mrs. 
Burton’s house. 

“ Shall I take my umbrella? ” asked Catherine. 

“ No, I guess you may take my little brown sun- 
shade,” said Mrs. Burton thoughtfully, “you’ll have 
to have a hat of some kind.” 

So they set out. Catherine held the brown shade 
very carefully and kept close to Mrs. Burton’s side. 

“ You will have to have a hat, and a tooth-brush, 
and some low shoes, and stockings,” said Mrs. Burton 




The Tittle Runaways 


as they walked along, “and while I’m about it I 
might as well get some white cloth for underclothes, 
and some sort of muslin to make you a Sunday dress.” 

“Yes — mother!” responded Catherine, “that’s 
what truly mothers do for little girls ; isn’t it ? Are 
you just pretending to buy all those things for me, 
or are you really going to buy them ? ” 

“I am really going to buy them. I have the 
money right in my pocket,” replied Mrs. Burton. 
“ Now what kind of a Sunday dress would you like to 
have ? ” 

“ Oh,” said Catherine, almost forgetting to keep the 
brown sunshade directly over her head, “ I should 
like to have a blue dress, with ruffles on it and lace 
all around the neck.” 

“Well,” said Mrs. Burton with a smiling glance at 
the brown hair and the little girl’s shining blue eyes, 
“ I think that will be real pretty for you, and if our 
money holds out that’s just what you shall have.” 

The village storekeeper seemed much surprised to 
see a little girl with Mrs. Burton, and when Catherine 
called her “ mother,” he opened his eyes very wide ; 
but he was too polite to ask any questions, and 
measured oif the blue muslin for the dress, and the 
fine white cloth for the underclothes, without saying 


The Tittle Runaways 


25 


a word. Then he fitted Catherine with some shiny low 
shoes, and Mrs. Burton picked out some thin black 
stockings. 

“ I guess I’ll get some pink calico, too ; I think you 
ought to have another cotton dress,” said Mrs. Burton, 
looking disapprovingly at Catherine’s scant blue- 
checked gingham. 

The milliner. Miss Pitts, was an old friend of Mrs. 
Burton’s, so Catherine was left alone a few minutes 
while the two friends stepped back into Miss Pitts’ 
workroom, where Mrs. Burton told her all about 
Catherine, and that she was going to have her stay 
through the summer, unless the asylum folks took 
her away. 

“ What makes you spend any money on the child 
until you find out if the asylum folks are willing to 
let her stay ? ” asked Miss Pitts. She had left the 
door ajar, and Catherine, who, for the first time in 
her life, was experiencing the delight of buying pretty 
things, and whose thoughts were full of Princess and 
of a new blue muslin dress, heard her, and forgot all 
the joy of pretending. She listened eagerly to hear 
Mrs. Burton’s answer. 

“ Land, if I hadn’t forgotten all about the asylum 
having a word to say about it, Eliza,” she said. 


26 


T’he Little Runaways 


“The child seemed to think they didn’t want her, 
and I’ve been buying shoes and things for her al- 
ready.” Just then the sound of sobs from the front 
room interrupted them, and they both hastened out to 
see what was the matter. 

“Why, Catherine,” said Mrs. Burton, “what are 
you crying about ? ” 

“ Oh, I heard the lady say perhaps I’d have to go 
back to the ’sylum,” sobbed the child ; “ there isn’t 
any kitty there, and there isn’t any mother or pretty 
trees or anything. And nobody wants to ’dopt me.” 

The milliner and Mrs. Burton exchanged a look of 
sympathy. “I tell you what,” said the milliner, “if 
you don’t keep her, Mrs. Burton, I shall.” At this 
Catherine looked up and a little smile crept over her 
face. Miss Pitts leaned over and wiped away the 
tears. 

“Wouldn’t you — rather — take — a nice — lit-tle 
boy ? ” half-sobbed Catherine. “ Phinny Trot wants 
to be took.” 

“ There ! ” said Mrs. Burton, “ you see she’s sort of 
settled on staying with me, haven’t you, dear ? ” 

“Yes’m,” said Catherine, but turned an anxious 
look toward Miss Pitts. “Would you like to ’dopt 
Phinny ?” she questioned. 


T'he Little Runaways 


27 


“ A boy ? ” Miss Pitts’ voice expressed alarm ; “ no 
indeed ! I don’t want to adopt anybody ; but I don’t 
want you to go back to the asylum, my dear, and I 
spoke right out.” 

“ She isn’t going back to the asylum, at least not 
this summer ! ” said Mrs. Burton firmly, “ so we’ll 
begin ‘ pretending ’ again, Catherine, and we want to 
look at hats, Eliza. We want a pretty hat to wear 
with a blue muslin dress, don’t we, Catherine ? ” 

“ Yes’m,” said Catherine. 

A fine white straw with a wreath of small blue 
flowers was decided upon. 

“ Now,” said Miss Pitts, ‘‘ I am going to make 
Catherine a present of an every-day hat,” and she 
tried on a broad-rimmed leghorn hat trimmed with 
lovely white ribbon. 

“ Isn’t that most too pretty for every-day wear ? ” 
questioned Mrs. Burton. 

“ Not a bit ! ” replied Miss Pitts. “ If I had a little 
girl, this is the kind of hat I should have her wear 
every day.” 

For a moment Catherine thought she could pretend 
Miss Pitts was her truly mother, but she remembered 
Princess, and then, looking at Mrs. Burton’s kind face, 
she was sure that she would much rather be Mrs. 


28 The Little Runaways 

Burton’s little girl even if she never had a pretty 
hat. 

It was a very happy little girl that trudged home- 
ward beside Mrs. Burton. She wore the white 
leghorn, and carried the other hat in a paper bag; 
and often sent a joyful look toward the parcels which 
Mrs. Burton was carrying. As they turned in at the 
side path she saw Princess waiting for them on the 
porch. 

“ Oh, mother,” she murmured, “ it’s all just as if I 
was truly ’dopted, isn’t it ? ” 

“ I guess so,” said Mrs. Burton smiling down on 
her. 


CHAPTEK III 


PHINNY TROT 

The next day was Saturday. Princess found her 
way up to Catherine’s room early in the morning, and 
jumping up on the bed said “good-morning” by rub- 
bing her nose against the little girl’s cheek. 

“ My,” said Catherine, waking up, “ I was dreaming 
about a kitty just like you. Princess, and I dreamed it 
was my kitty.” Princess purred, purred as if she un- 
derstood all about it, and curled down beside Cath- 
erine, holding her head up as if waiting to hear more 
about the dream. 

“I didn’t dream a word about Phinny Trot,” con- 
tinued Catherine in a whisper. “ I most wish Phinny 
didn’t have red hair and such dreadful light eyes. I 
guess he’d be took if his eyes were darker and his hair 
was different. I like his hair and eyes, kitty. He’s a 
good boy ; he gave me a Christmas present. Not a 
make-believe, but a truly present, and I’ve got it in 
my other pocket. It’s a handkerchief with B on it, in 
blue. He bought it with five cents a man gave him.” 

Just then Catherine’s confidences were interrupted 
29 


3 ° 


"The Liittle Runaways 


by the appearance of Mrs. Burton at the door with the 
basin and the pitcher of water. Catherine noticed that 
the towel over her arm this morning had a red 
border. 

“ Well,” said Mrs. Burton, “ here is the new tooth- 
brush, and here is a new brush and comb, so spring 
right up and get ready for breakfast.” 

‘‘Yes, mother,” said Catherine, carefully lifting 
Princess oif the bed. 

“ You are going to be my mother all summer, aren’t 
you ? ” she said, looking at Mrs. Burton. 

“ Why of course I am. And I guess you’ll be sur- 
prised to hear that 3"our blue muslin dress is all cut 
out, and that after breakfast I shall have you try it 
on, and I shall turn right to and finish it before I sleep 
to-night ; and to morrow we’ll go to church and you 
shall wear it, and your best hat, and your new shoes ! ” 

“ My ! ” said Catherine, her shoulders coming for- 
ward as usual when she was very much pleased. 
“ And will the blue muslin have a rufiie ? ” 

“ Indeed it will. And lace all about the neck and 
on the sleeves ! ” 

“ My ! ” said Catherine again. Mrs. Burton went 
down-stairs, and Catherine practiced jumping from the 
long rug in front of the bed to the little round rug in 


’The Little Runaways 


31 


front of the stand. She pretended that the strip of 
yellow floor between the two rugs was a brook, and 
that she must jump over it. Princess seemed to think 
that Catherine’s toes were a new kind of mice and 
jumped after them, and they were having such a good 
time that Mrs. Burton had to call Catherine twice to 
come to breakfast. 

“Dear me,” said Catherine when the second call 
came, “ p’r’aps she won’t pretend to be my mother if I 
play before I am dressed,” so she hurried down as soon 
as possible, and went into the kitchen with a very 
sober face. 

“ There, sit right up to the table, dear,” said Mrs. 
Burton smiling at the little girl. 

At this Catherine’s sober looks vanished, and she 
skipped across the room to her seat, and Mrs. Burton 
sat down opposite to her, while Princess walked slowly 
over to the sunny window and jumped up and looked 
out as if she had entirely forgotten every one in the 
room. 

“I stopped to play,” said Catherine, looking ear- 
nestly at Mrs. Burton. 

“ Did you ? Well, that’s right ! ” said Mrs. Burton 
comfortably. “ When I was a little girl I used to play 
all the time, and I am the better for it now.” 


32 


T'he Liittle Runaways 


“ Oh I ” said Catherine in surprise, “ did you have 
children to play with ? ’’ 

“ I had a brother, and we lived very near the sea- 
shore, and we had the finest chance to play that ever 
was. In summer there was the sand to build forts and 
gardens of, and the water to wade in and sail boats 
on; and in winter there was plenty of sliding and 
making snow-men ! ” 

“ Oh, tell some more,” said Catherine, “ it seems just 
as if it was Phinny Trot and I pretending.” 

“ What did you and Phinny Trot pretend ? ” asked 
Mrs. Burton, leaning across the table to turn more 
cream over Catherine’s oatmeal. 

“ Oh, we used to pretend that the same lady ’dopted 
us, and so we were brother and sister. And we’d pre- 
tend that the lady hadn’t any husband, or anybody 
but just me and Phinny, and that she liked us just as 
well as if we were her truly children ; and that she 
gave Phinny a sled, and gave me a doll. And we used 
to pretend that there was a nice kitty in her house, 
and a big dog. Wasn’t it lucky I found that railroad 
ticket ? ” concluded Catherine, happily. 

For a moment Mrs. Burton did not smile, then she 
looked at the thin little figure sitting opposite, and 
answered : 


T^he Little Runaways 


33 


“ Yes, my child, it was.” 

“ I love to pretend things, don’t you — mother ? ” 
said Catherine, as they finished their breakfast. 

“ Don’t you like real, truly things better ? ” asked 
Mrs. Burton. 

“ I don’t know,” said Catherine slowly. 

“Well, now Princess is a real, truly cat; isn’t she 
better than just a make-believe cat ? ” 

“ Oh, yes I ” said Catherine. 

“ And your blue muslin, and your pretty hats, don’t 
you like those better than just pretending a dress and 
a pretty hat ? ” 

“ Oh, yes,” said Catherine, “ but what I like best 
about pretending is to call you ‘mother.’ You see I 
pretend just as hard as I can that you are my own 
truly mother, and that I’m going to stay here forever 
and ever ! ” Catherine was standing close beside 
Mrs. Burton, and the good woman lifted her up in 
her lap. 

“ My ! ” said Catherine, “ I guess you are pretend- 
ing too, for truly mothers like to hold their little 
girls, don’t they ? ” 

“Yes, and they forget that little girls have to have 
new muslin dresses,” said Mrs. Burton. 

“ I can sew,” said Catherine ; “ we had to sew thirty 


34 


The Tittle Runaways 


minutes every morning, and thirty minutes every 
afternoon. I can help make my dress.” 

“ Well, I guess I shan’t need your help to-day, my 
dear. But I will tell you what you can do. You can 
take Princess and go up in the orchard, and I guess 
you can amuse yourself out-of-doors awhile. We’ll 
try on the blue muslin first.” 

So Catherine stood very still while Mrs. Burton 
slipped the dress over her head, and after a minute or 
two she was free again and, followed by Princess, was 
ready to start. 

“ And, Catherine, if you get hungry, dear, there’s a 
plate of cookies right on the lower pantry shelf. 
You run in and get one any time; eat them all if you 
want to.” 

“ Yes’m,” said Catherine, with a little choke in her 
voice. 

“ This is the happiest place, kitty,” she said, as she 
picked Princess up, and went across the yard toward 
the fragrant, blossoming hillside. 

The trees were set in rows, and the grass under- 
neath was short and full of pink and white clover 
blossoms. 

“Mother says to play is the best thing there is for 
little girls,” she said to Princess, “ so we will make a 


The Tittle Runaways 


35 


playhouse. Once Josie Smith, when she had a truly 
mother before she come to the ’sylum, she had a play- 
house.” And Catherine began to look about for a 
suitable place. One apple-tree stood a little way 
further up the hill than the others. It was larger, 
and some of its branches drooped very near the 
ground, and Catherine thought that would be a nice 
place, right between the big roots, which came up 
from the ground in little ridges. She found a broad, 
flat stone under the fence and carried it to put under 
the tree for a table. Then she went back to the 
house and brought a smooth short stick of wood from 
the shed for a chair. Then she made another journey 
to the house for a cooky, and to tell Mrs. Burton 
about the playhouse. 

“ Why, you must have some dishes ! ” said Mrs. 
Burton. “When I had a playhouse I always had 
dishes. My mother gave me all the broken pieces 
of china, l^ow, let me see. I have a cracked 
tumbler, and I nicked a piece out of a blue plate 
only yesterday. How will that do to begin with ? ” 

“ Lovely,” said Catherine. 

“Well, perhaps we may break some more pretty 
soon,” said Mrs. Burton hopefully, as Catherine took 
the dishes and hurried back to the orchard. 


36 The Tittle Runaways 

Mrs. Burton watched the little figure cross the 
yard. 

“ I declare,” she said, “ it does seem as if that child 
was meant for me, and I’m going to keep her if I 
have to break in on my principal. If those asylum 
folks say a word about taking her away, that is, this 
summer, I shall give them a piece of mind. Children 
don’t run away from places where they are happy. 
At least, not a girl like Catherine.” 

Mrs. Burton sewed busily all day. Catherine was 
called in several times to “ try on,” and before supper- 
time the dress was finished, with the dainty lace at 
the neck and sleeves, and the ruffle on the bottom. 

“ Is that mine to keep ? ” asked Catherine, as she 
looked at it. 

‘‘ Why, of course ! ” 

“ Oh,” said Catherine, “ and when I go back to the 
’sylum will I take that dress and both hats, and ” 

“ There, there,” interrupted Mrs. Burton, “ this isn’t 
any way to make believe. I have just made my little 
Cathie a muslin dress, and all she has to think about 
is just to enjoy wearing it.” 

« My! ’’said Catherine, ‘‘ and will you always call 
me Cathie, mother ? ” 

“ Why, yes, I guess so,” replied Mrs. Burton. “ Kow 


‘The Tittle Runaways 


37 


what would you like for supper? Princess likes 
creamed fish and baked potatoes, and with a hot 
johnny-cake and some first-class apple jelly I guess 
we can make out.” 

Catherine skipped joyfully toward the kitchen. 
“ Oh,” she said, “ isn’t this the bestest place ? ” 


CHAPTER lY 


CATHIE WINS 

Monday morning brought the matron of the asylum 
to see about Catherine. When the depot carriage 
stopped in front of Mrs. Burton’s house and a tall, thin 
woman stepped out, Mrs. Burton said aloud : J ust as 
I supposed, a cut-and-dried old maid ; ” and she was 
surprised to see Catherine rush toward the visitor ex- 
claiming : 

“ Oh, Miss Gilman, dear Miss Gilman, see what a 
nice place I have found to live.” 

And when Mrs. Burton saw Miss Gilman stoop and 
kiss the little girl, she was more surprised than ever. 
“ That does beat all,” she exclaimed, for she had fully 
made up her mind that every one connected with a 
children’s asylum must be stern, and not at all like the 
pleasant-faced woman whom Catherine was leading 
toward the house. 

Mrs. Burton met them at the door, and told Cather- 
ine she could play in the yard with Princess until she 
called her, and invited Miss Gilman to come in. 

It did not take long for the matron to tell of the 
38 


The Tittle Runaways 39 

little girl’s disappearance, and Mrs. Burton told of 
Catherine’s arrival at the cottage. 

“ Do you wish to adopt her ? ” asked Miss Gilman. 
“We should be only too glad to know that she had 
found such a good home ! ” 

“ I declare,” said Mrs. Burton, “ I can’t say this 
minute what I will do, but the child can stay right 
here with me this summer, and then we’ll see.” 

“ That is very kind of you,” replied Miss Gilman, 
“and there is only one objection. Two years ago a 
lady took Catherine home intending to adopt her, but 
her husband did not approve of the idea. Since then 
Mr. Damon has changed his mind, and the very day 
Catherine ran away they came after her. Now, you 
see how it is. The Damons are people in good cir- 
cumstances ; they will take Catherine and give her a 
good education and a comfortable home. But, as she 
is here and happy, you shall have the first choice.” 

Mrs. Burton stopped rocking and looked out the 
window. She could see Catherine under the lilac 
bushes making a wreath of leaves and blossoms for 
Princess’ neck. 

There was a moment’s silence. Mrs. Burton re- 
membered that she could not do very much for the 
child except give her a happy home. 


40 


T'he hittle Runaways 


“ Are those Damons well off ? ” she asked. 

“Yes, Mrs. Burton, they are in prosperous circum- 
stances. They have a beautiful home in Worcester, 
and are well spoken of by people who know 
them.” 

Mrs. Burton sighed. “Well,” she said, “ I haven’t 
any business to stand in the child’s way. Dear knows, 
I never should have thought of such a thing as going 
after a little girl to fetch up ; but Cathie walked right 
in and I took to her right away, and so did Princess. 
Well,” and Mrs. Burton sighed again, “ I guess it’s the 
best thing for the Damons to have her. Did you want 
to take her back with you to-day ? ” 

“ Yes, I had planned to do so,” replied Miss Gilman. 
“ A child is a good deal of care, Mrs. Burton,” she 
continued. 

“ Maybe so,” responded her hostess, looking out the 
window again. “ You call her in, Miss Gilman, and 
tell her, while I step up-stairs and gather up her 
things. I made her a dress Saturday and got her a 
hat. You just speak to her,” and Mrs. Burton made 
her way toward the entry. 

“Catherine,” called Miss Gilman, from the open 
window. 

“ Yes’m,” responded the little girl running toward 


‘The Little Runaways 41 

the house, the partly-finished wreath in her hand, and 
the white cat bounding along beside her. 

“ Oh, Miss Gilman,” she said as she came into the 
room, “ did Phinny Trot care because I came 
away ? ” 

“ Indeed he did,” answered Miss Gilman. 

“ And nobody has wanted to ’dopt Phinny since I 
came away ? ” 

“No,” said Miss Gilman. “ Catherine, do you re- 
member the lady who took you home with her once, 
and had you stay all night ? ” 

“ And took me back to the ’sylum because her hus- 
band didn’t like little girls ? ” said Catherine. “ Yes’m, 
I remember her. She rocked me to sleep.” 

“Yes,” said Miss Gilman. “Well, the day you 
were naughty and ran away, that lady came to see 
you. She came to take you home with her.” 

“ To ’dopt me ? ” 

“Yes. To have you live with her always as her 
own little girl.” 

“ My ! Wasn’t it lucky I came away that day,” said 
Catherine; and as Miss Gilman did not reply for a 
moment, she continued, “ because this is just the hap- 
piest place to live. Phinny and I always pretended 
there were places like this, and Mrs. Burton pretends 


42 


T'he L,ittle Runaways 


to be ray raother, and sometimes it most seems as if I 
was her truly little girl.” 

“You will be Mrs. Damon’s ‘truly little girl,’ Cath- 
erine. Mrs. Burton does not want to adopt you. She 
thinks you will be happier to go back with me, and 
Mrs. Damon will come after you, in a day or two.” 

Catherine’s smile faded. She looked down at the 
white cat, which was rubbing against her legs. Then 
she looked about the pleasant room. 

“ Where is she ? ” she asked. 

“ Mrs. Burton is up-stairs packing up your things,” 
answered Miss Gilman. 

Just then the driver of the depot carriage called to 
his passenger : “ Say, ma’am, if you’re calculatin’ on 
catching the eleven-twenty-seven you’ll have to be 
startin’ pretty soon.” 

Mrs. Burton’s steps could be heard coming down 
the stairs, and in a moment she entered the room 
with a neat package in one hand and Catherine’s 
leghorn hat with the white ribbon bow, in the other. 

“There, Cathie,” she said, “all your things are in 
this parcel, and here’s your pretty hat,” and she 
slipped the white elastic under the little girl’s chin. 

Catherine looked up at her wistfully. “ I s’pose you 
don’t want to ’dopt a little boy, neither, do you?” 


The Tittle Runaways 43 

she said. “Phinny’s a real good boy, and Phinny 
wants to be took.” 

“ No, dear,” said Mrs. Burton, a little huskily, “ I 
ain’t well situated to adopt a child ; if I was I should 
hold tight to you.” 

Catherine picked up Princess. 

“ Come, Catherine, thank Mrs. Burton for her kind- 
ness to you, and say good-bye. We must take that 
next train.” 

The little girl put the white cat gently down. 
“ Oh I ” she said, almost inaudibly, “ oh, mother. I 
wish’t we was goin’ to pretend forever and ever,” 
and she reached out her arms toward Mrs. Burton, 
who clasped the child and kissed her. 

Catherine clung to her, and Mrs. Burton felt the 
tears on the little girl’s cheeks. 

“ Thank you, Mrs. Burton,” said Miss Gilman, tak- 
ing hold of Catherine’s arm and drawing her gently 
away, “you have been more than kind to one of our 
little ones.” But Mrs. Burton made no response, and 
Catherine, with one arm over her eyes, was drawn 
down the path and helped into the wagon. Princess 
followed as far as the gate, where she stopped and 
watched the passengers take their seats. 

Just then Catherine remembered her cherished 


44 


The Tittle Runaways 


umbrella, and leaned out. “ Oh, mother, I’ve forgot 
my nice umbrella, but I don’t want it ; I’ll leave it for 
a present for you — mother.” 

“ Land ! ” Mrs. Burton ran down the path with 
surprising quickness. “Wait, wait a minute. I’m 
going to take her. I’ll adopt her right off. Don’t 
start up your horse, Ambrose, that’s my little girl, and 
I want her. 

“ Get right out, Cathie,” she said taking hold of the 
wagon as if she expected it to go unless she prevented. 
“ Now Miss Gilman, you’ll think I’m dreadful change- 
able-minded, but I’ve been ‘pretending,’ as Cathie 
says, that she’s my little girl, and I declare to it 
I can’t bear to stop. I guess I can make her happy.” 

Catherine had sprung out of the wagon, and was 
clinging eagerly to Mrs. Burton’s arms. 

“Oh, Miss Gilman,” she pleaded, noticing a dis- 
appointed expression on the matron’s face, “mother 
says it’s good for little girls to play. I don’t want to 
live with the man who didn’t want any little girl.” 

The matron got slowly out of the carriage. “Well, 
I don’t know, I’m sure,” she said. 

“ Now, come right in,” urged Mrs. Burton, “ and let’s 
talk it all over. You ought to have a good sub- 
stantial lunch,and Ambrose can come over and fetch 




“Get right out, Cathie,” she said 


\/ 




T’he Little Runaways 45 

you for the two-twenty-one train, can’t you, 
Ambrose ? ” 

“ Well,” said the driver, “I shall have to charge a 
quarter extra if I do ; I’ve been a waitin’ here some 
time.” 

“ I’ll pay the quarter, Ambrose. Now, Miss Gil- 
man, you step right in, and Cathie and I will see what 
we can offer you. There’s a part of the cold boiled 
dish we had yesterday, and a fresh custard pie. 
Cathie, you take that parcel right up-stairs and take 
off your hat.” 

“Am I your truly girl now, mother?” asked the 
child anxiously. 

“ You are just as much my truly girl as anybody’s,” 
replied Mrs. Burton firmly, “and this is your house, 
and Princess is your cat, and I am your mother.” 

“ My ! ” said Catherine, with a gay little skip, as she 
hurried away up-stairs with Princess close at her 
heels. 


CHAPTER V 


MAKING A “DINAH” 

“When I was a little girl,” said Mrs. Burton, as 
she spread a piece of stout black cambric out on the 
table and began to make marks on it with white 
chalk, “ I had a doll named ‘ Dinah.’ ” 

Catherine stood close by the table and listened 
eagerly. “ She was a good-sized doll,” continued Mrs. 
Burton, “ and she was made of black cambric, and 
stuffed with cotton ; she had joints at her knees and 
shoulders. Her hair was made out of ravelings from 
a black yarn stocking, her eyes were black beads, and 
her nose and mouth were marked with red yarn.” 

“My,” said Catherine, watching Mrs. Burton’s 
chalk-marks on the black cambric. 

“ She had real stockings, and shoes made from old 
gloves. Her dresses buttoned up in the back, and she 
had a cape and hood made of scarlet cloth.” 

Mrs. Burton laid down the chalk and picked up her 
scissors. There was a big “ Dinah ” all marked out on 
the black cambric. 

“ Now,” continued Mrs. Burton, “ I had so much 
46 


T^he Little Runaways 


47 


happiness with my Dinah that I am going to make 
one for my little girl, just as much like her as I can.” 

“ For me ! ” 

“ Yes. It will take me quite a while to finish it and 
get the clothes ready. Do you suppose you could 
walk to the village and do an errand for me this 
morning ? ” 

“ Oh, yes, indeed,” said Cathie. 

It was a month after Miss Gilman’s visit, and Cath- 
ie’s cheeks were red, her nose was covered with 
freckles, and the thin little legs were already growing 
stout. She wore a blue linen dress trimmed with 
white braid. When she smiled you could see little 
dimples come and go in her cheeks and about her 
mouth, and as Mrs. Burton looked down at her she 
thought there never was such a dear child as Cath- 
erine. 

“ I want you to go in to Miss Pitts, and ask her if 
she has any good-sized black beads. You tell her what 
I am doing, and she’ll understand the kind I want. 
And you tell her to send me two knots of red worsted, 
and a skein of stout black linen thread. I’ll give you 
twenty cents to pay for the things.” 

“ Shall I wear my leghorn hat ? ” asked Cathie. 

“Yes,” nodded Mrs. Burton, as she stooped over 


48 


"The L,ittle Runaways 


and kissed the little girl, and then went to the door to 
watch Cathie go down the path. 

When she reached the gate Cathie looked back and 
waved her hand to Mrs. Burton, who stood in the 
doorway with Princess close beside her. 

“ My mother and my kitty,” whispered Cathie to her- 
self, and then walked along the grassy path which led 
to the village, thinking about the wonderful doll that 
was soon to be her own. 

Miss Pitts came to the door to meet her. “ How 
nice you look, dear,” she said ; “ did you walk way 
over here this warm morning just to see your Aunt 
Eliza?” 

“ No, ma’am,” replied Catherine, “ mother sent me 
on an errand,” and then she told Miss Pitts about 
Dinah. 

“There, now, why didn’t Mrs. Burton let me do 
that,” said Miss Pitts. “ I should love to make a rag 
doll, and I could make it in half the time she could.” 

“ This isn’t a rag doll,” said Catherine smilingly. 
“This is a Dinah. And when mother was little, a 
good deal smaller than I am, she had one, and mine is 
going to be just like it.” 

“Well, now we must see about Dinah’s eyes,” said 
Miss Pitts, and she stepped behind the counter and 


The Tittle Runaways 


49 


took down a big white pasteboard box marked 
“beads in big letters. “ Just pull that stool up to 
the counter,” she said, “ and we’ll look this box over.” 

Cathie pulled the high wooden stool near the 
counter and climbed up and sat down in front of the 
big box, and Miss Pitts took off the cover. 

“ My,” said Catherine, clasping her hands in delight ; 
for there before her shone and glistened beads of every 
color and shape. The big box was divided into long, 
narrow boxes, and each one of them held beads of dif- 
ferent colors and sizes. There were big round light 
blue beads, and tiny, shiny dark blue beads. There 
were beads as green as the grass and as glistening as 
dew. There were white crystal-like beads, there were 
red beads and purple beads, and in a division of the 
big box were assorted sizes of black beads. 

Miss Pitts smiled at the little girl’s delight. “ Now,” 
said she, “just take off your hat, Catherine, and look 
the beads over. Take them up if you want to, but be 
sure and put them back where they belong ; and while 
you are looking at them I’ll step up-stairs a minute.” 

Miss Pitts lived in the rooms over her milliner’s 
shop, and kept house for herself. 

Catherine could hardly spare the time to take off 
her hat before touching all the beautiful, shining beads. 


5 ° 


The Tittle Runaways 


Most of them were strung on threads, and tied in 
bunches, and she picked them up and laid the strings 
out on the counter, a string of the crystal white beads, 
then the light blue beads, and the star-like tiny red 
beads. 

“I didn’t know there were beads before,” she 
whispered to herself, as the shining strands slipped 
through her fingers. “ I guess I’ll make a picture of 
them. I’ll have the green for a field, and I’ll put 
these white silvery beads across it for a brook ; and 
way up here I’ll put all these light blue beads for a 
sky. There!” and Catherine surveyed her bead 
picture happily. Just then Miss Pitts came into the 
room. She carried a shining black tray which she 
put down on the counter beside the box of beads. 
On the tray was a glass of creamy looking milk, and 
a plate of sugar cookies. 

“ Little girls like cookies, don’t they ? ” asked Miss 
Pitts. 

“ Oh, yes,” said Catherine. 

“Well, those are for you.” 

Catherine soon finished her lunch, and told Miss 
Pitts about the bead pictures. 

“ I guess I must be going now,” she said, and began 
putting the beads back in their proper places. 


The Little Runaways 


51 


Miss Pitts looked under the counter and found a 
small pink box with the picture of a church on it. 
She put the box in front of the little girl and said, 
“ Now you pick out the beads you like best, enough 
to fill that box, and you can have them for your very 
own to take home.” 

“ My,” said Catherine. 

“Are you going to make Dinah’s clothes ?” asked 
Miss Pitts, as Cathie began putting the white and 
green and blue beads in the little box. 

“ No, ma’am, I guess not,” said Cathie. 

“ Don’t you know how to sew ? ” 

“ Yes’m, over-and-over, and to run, and to hem. 
Every day at the ’sylum I sewed half an hour in the 
morning and half an hour in the afternoon.” 

“ An excellent plan,” said Miss Pitts approvingly ; 
“ doesn’t your mother have you sew every day 
now ? ” 

“ No, ma’am. I guess she don’t want me to do any- 
thing I did when I was a ’sylum child,” said Cathie ; 
“ she says I must forget all about ’sylums ; and I do, 
some days ; all ’cept Phinny.” 

“ That was a boy, wasn’t it ? ” 

“ Yes’m. Mother says I mustn’t ask folks to ’dopt 
Phinny any more. The minister didn’t like it. He’s 


52 


T^he L.ittle Runaways 


got a big house, you know, and he hasn’t any little 
boy, and I told him about Phinny.” 

“ And he didn’t like it ? ” 

“ Mother said he didn’t. She said ministers always 
knew their duty, and it wasn’t for little girls to point 
it out. I s’pose you don’t want ” 

Miss Pitts shook her head firmly. “ But you ought 
to learn to sew, Cathie, and to knit. What are you 
going to do for clothes when you grow up if you 
can’t sew? And what will you do for amusement 
when you get to be an old lady if you can’t knit ? ” 

Cathie looked sober ; she had almost forgotten the 
box of beautiful beads. 

“ You get your mother to let you help make Dinah’s 
clothes, and the next time you come over here I’ll 
have a garter all started and teach you to knit.” 

“Yes’m,” said Cathie, taking up the two small 
parcels Miss Pitts handed her; “thank you very 
much for the beads and for the cookies.” 

“ Come again,” said Miss Pitts, and the little girl 
started on her walk home. She began to think of 
how lovely it would be to have a truly Dinah of her 
own, and she clasped the box of shining beads closely 
and gave a few little skips as she walked along. 

Miss Pitts was watching her from the shop window. 


53 


"The hiittle Runaways 

“ Bless the child,” she said. “ If she would only give 
up talking about that boy she’d be a real comfort. I 
haven’t any place to make a home for a boy. Boys 
ought to be brought up on farms, where there is 
plenty of room for them to rampage around.” 

It was a warm June day, and as Cathie walked 
along she began to think of how warm it was in the 
unshaded city yard of the asylum ; and to wish, more 
than ever, that Fhinny could be adopted. 

“Wouldn’t he like to see mother’s white chickens, 
and my kitty,” she thought, “ and he could go fishing 
up the brook where that Jones boy goes; and he 
could swing in my swing under the apple-trees. Oh, 
dear, Phinny ought to be took, too. All he has is 
just the ’sylum,” and Catherine forgot all that she had 
to make her happy in remembering how little Phinny 
had. 

Mrs. Burton was on the lookout for her, and 
Cathie showed her the lovely beads, and Mrs. Burton 
told her that Dinah was all ready to stuff, and that 
she had waited so Catherine could see it done. 
Dinah’s head and body were cut from one piece of 
cloth, and Mrs. Burton began to put the cotton in, 
forcing it down solidly until Dinah’s head became 
round and full, and her shoulders and body solid and 


54 


The Tittle Runaways 


compact. Tlien the arms and legs were carefully 
filled. Now the stout black linen thread, which 
Catherine had brought from Miss Pitts’ shop, came 
into use to sew the arms on to Dinah’s shoulders and 
the legs to her body. Dinah was all ready now for 
her hair of the ravelings of a black stocking, for her 
bead eyes, and her nose and mouth of red worsted. 

When she was done the little girl clasped her 
closely in loving arms, and rocked for a long time in 
a big chair, smiling but saying nothing. It did seem 
to Catherine just then that her cup of happiness was 
overflowing. 


CHAPTER YI 


AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR 

The next morning there was a fine, drizzling rain ; 
Cathie and Princess went out in the wood-shed 
directly after breakfast, and Cathie began to build a 
log house with the smooth round birch-wood. 

“ It will make such a nice place for you. Princess,” 
she said to the white cat. But as soon as she put 
Princess in out she jumped, before Cathie could get a 
roof on. Princess seemed to think it was some new 
kind of a game, and that she was put in the little en- 
closure just to jump out. 

After a little while Cathie went into the sitting- 
room and found Mrs. Burton sewing on Dinah’s 
clothes; and then the little girl remembered what 
Miss Pitts had said about learning to sew and knit. 

“ Mother, can’t I sew, too ? ” she asked. 

Mrs. Burton looked at her over her glasses and 
smiled. 

“ Do you really want to ? ” she asked. 

“ Yes, indeed, for if I don’t learn to sew who will 
55 


56 


T'he hittle Runaways 


make my clothes when I grow up ? ” said Catherine 
seriously. 

“ Sure enough ! ” said Mrs. Burton, “ I hadn’t 
thought about that. Kow, if you really want to sew, 
I shall have to look up for you the thimble I had 
when I was a little girl ; for you haven’t a thimble to 
your name.” 

Mrs. Burton went up-stairs and opened one of the 
drawers in the high chest which stood in the 
corner of Catherine’s room, and took out a square 
box. 

“Now, what do you suppose is in this box?” she 
said when she came back to the sitting-room. 

“Thimbles,” said Catherine. Mrs. Burton opened 
the box. In it were two pairs of scissors in a pretty 
leather case, a row of spools of different colored 
threads, a needle-case with all sizes of needles, a little 
square of beeswax, a tiny emery-ball, which looked 
like a strawberry, and a thimble which Catherine was 
sure would be just a fit for her second finger. 

“ My ! ” said the little girl. 

“ My aunt gave me that work-box when I was just 
ten years old,” said Mrs. Burton, “ and I have kept it 
all these years. I guess I must have been saving it 
for my own little girl.” 


"The Ljittle Runaways 


57 


Cathie smiled back. “Your own truly little girl,” 
she said happily. 

“When I was a little girl,” said Mrs. Burton, 
“ children used to make patchwork, and I did not 
like to sew, and did not make my squares very neatly, 
and when Aunt Hetty came to visit us she told me 
that if I would learn to sew neatly before she came 
again, for she came every Thanksgiving time, she 
would bring me a present.” 

“ And you did,” said Cathie ; “ wasn’t it lucky your 
fingers were just as big as mine ? ” and she fitted the 
thimble carefully on to her finger. 

“ Dear me,” said Mrs. Burton, looking at Cathie, 
who was sitting very straight in one of the high- 
backed chairs, “ your feet don’t even touch the round, 
do they ? ” 

“ Ho, ma’am,” said Cathie, “ but I don’t sit in chairs 
much, except when we have breakfasts and dinners.” 

“ Dear me,” said Mrs. Burton again, “ but little girls 
ought to have little chairs.” 

“ Little rocking-chairs ? ” suggested Catherine. 

“ Why, of course,” said Mrs. Burton ; “ what have I 
been thinking about when- my own little rocking- 
chair is right up-stairs in the spare-room. I’ll step 
right up and get it.” 


58 


The Tittle Runaways 


Mrs. Burton brought down a little rocking-chair, 
painted black, with gilt bands on the rockers and 
arms. On the back of the chair was painted a bunch 
of red roses. 

“There,” said Mrs. Burton, “just see how that fits,” 
and Catherine slid down from the high-backed chair 
and sat comfortably in the little rocking-chair. 

“ You have everything for a little girl, don’t you, 
mother ? ” she said. “ I guess you’d most forgot how 
many things you had till I came.” 

“ I guess I had,” said Mrs. Burton. 

“ I shall call this my sewing-chair,” said Catherine, 
rocking back and forth. “ I don’t s’pose you have a 
little table, have you, mother ? ” she asked. 

“ Why, I declare, there is a little table,” said Mrs. 
Burton, “ and that is up-stairs, too. I’ll step up and 
bring it down,” and in a minute she was back with a 
little table which she set beside Catherine. The little 
girl set the work-box on it, and looked at it proudly. 
Mrs. Burton had cut out a nightgown for Dinah, and 
basted it carefully, and now handed it to Catherine. 

“ You can run up those side seams,” she said. Prin- 
cess curled herself up at Cathie’s feet, and for a time 
there was silence in the pleasant room while the little 
girl carefully followed Mrs. Burton’s instructions. 


‘The Laittle Runaways 


59 


“ Can you knit, mother ? ” she asked. 

“ Why, yes, indeed, I used to knit all Mr. Burton’s 
winter stockings, and my own too. And I guess I’d 
better lay in some good black Saxony and take up 
some stockings for you.” 

“ Then when you get to be an old lady you’ll amuse 
yourself knitting, won’t you ? ” said Cathie, drawing 
her needle laboriously in and out. “ Miss Pitts said 
she would teach me to knit.” 

“I never see the beat,” murmured Mrs. Burton. 
“ What do you want to learn to knit for ? ” 

“ So I can ’muse myself when I grow into an old 
lady,” answered Catherine, with a little sigh. 

Mrs. Burton heard the sigh, and reaching down took 
Dinah’s nightgown out of the little girl’s hands, and 
put it on the small table. 

“ Now, dear, put your thimble in your work-box, 
and run outdoors. The rain has stopped, and if you 
keep out of the long grass you won’t get wet.” 

“ May I take my little rocking-chair out on the side- 
steps ? ” 

“Of course you may,” replied Mrs. Burton. 

“ And may I take my table and my box of beads 
out there, too ? ” 

“Yes, indeed,” said Mrs. Burton; so Cathie first 


6o 


The hittle Runaways 


carried out the table, and then the little chair, and 
then took her box of beads out. “ I am going to make 
bead pictures,” she called back to Mrs. Burton. 

Mrs. Burton’s eyes followed her lovingly. “The 
best child that ever was,” she said to herself ; “ and to 
think I almost let her go back to that asylum. I guess 
I never should have seen a happy day after it if I had, 
and I declare if I’m not a good sight happier now than 
I ever expected to be. I must step into the kitchen 
and make some more ginger-snaps. Cathie is a great 
girl for ginger-snaps. 

“ I don’t see how I happened to forget about that 
little chair,” continued Mrs. Burton. “ I’m afraid I 
shan’t do my duty by Catherine ; I want to be a good 
mother to her, but I’m not sure I know just how. I 
suppose I ought to look up some little girls for her to 
play with, but there’s no little girl nearer than the vil- 
lage,” and Mrs. Burton sighed again. “ If it’s a good 
bright day to-morrow I believe I’ll walk over and see 
Eliza Pitts and ask her what she thinks about play- 
mates for Cathie ; ” as Mrs. Burton came to this de- 
cision she turned to the window and looked down the 
road which led to the village. 

As she looked she saw a small figure in the distance, 
and as it came nearer she could see that it was a boy. 


"The Little Runaways 6i 

He walked slowly as if tired out, and Mrs. Burton no- 
ticed that he was barefooted, and that the brim of his 
straw hat swung loose from the crown. She could 
see that his hair was red. 

“ My soul ! ’’ she exclaimed aloud, as she made this 
discovery, “ I do believe it’s that boy,” and she hurried 
to the front door. The boy was now nearly opposite 
the house ; Cathie, busily occupied on the steps at the 
side door, could not see him. 

When the boy reached Mrs. Burton’s front gate he 
stopped and looked anxiously toward the house. 
“ Are you Mrs. Burton ? ” he asked. 

“Just as I expected,” murmured Mrs. Burton, but 
she nodded her assent to his question. 

“ I’ll have the whole asylum here, I shouldn’t won- 
der a mite,” she continued, as the boy opened the gate 
and came slowly up the path. His clothes were ragged 
and dirty, and wet, and his face thin and tired. Mrs. 
Burton looked at him reproachfully. 

“You have run away from the asylum ! ” she said. 

“ Yes’m,” replied the boy; “ they kept saying they 
guessed nobody ever would want to adopt me now, 
big as I am, and I didn’t expect they would ; so I 
thought I’d start out and try and get work. I’m past 
ten now.” 


62 


"The Little Runaways 


“ How did you happen to come in this direction ? ” 
asked Mrs. Burton sternly. “ Did you find a ticket to 
Cumberland Junction ?” 

“ No, ma’am, I walked,” he answered. A discour- 
aged look had settled over the boy’s face. 

“ Walked from Boston ? ” 

“ Yes’m. I started two weeks ago. I kept asking 
the way to this place because I heard Miss Gilman tell 
about it, and she said Catherine was happy here.” 

“The land’s sake,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. Just 
then Cathie came running around the corner of the 
house, followed by the white cat. 

“ Why, Phinny Trot,” she exclaimed joyfully, and 
running toward him threw her arms about him and 
hugged him vigorously. “ Oh, Phinny, have you just 
come ? This is my truly mother,” she continued, 
taking hold of Mrs. Burton’s apron, “ and this is my 
own kitty, and this is my house ; come right in, 
Phinny,” and before she realized what had happened 
Mrs. Burton was following the children through the 
narrow entry into the living-room. 

“ Sit right down on the sofa, Phinny,” said Cathie, 
“ and my mother will get you some milk and cookies, 
same as she did the day I came,” and Cathie smiled at 
Mrs. Burton, as if sure of her approval. Mrs. Burton 


T^he Little Runaways 


63 


brought the milk and cookies and some thick slices of 
bread and butter. The boy ate eagerly. People had 
been kind to him on the way, but he had often gone 
hungry. 

“ I guess you better step out to the sink and wash 
your face and hands,” suggested Mrs. Burton. “ Your 
toes look all stubbed up,” she continued, with a glance 
at his feet. “ You just take the tin basin full of warm 
water right out in the shed, Cathie, and carry out 
some soap and a towel, and have the boy bathe his 
feet.” 

Phinny followed the little girl toward the shed. 

“ Oh, Phinny, I’m so glad you’ve come. There’s 
a spare-room here for company where you can sleep, 
and you can swing under the trees, and there’s a brook 
for you to go fishing in, and as soon as I learn to 
knit. I’ll knit you some stockings,” concluded Cathie 
happily. 

“ I shan’t stay here,” said Phinn}’’, a little huskily, 
with a nod toward the kitchen. “ She don’t want me. 
She’s mad ’cause I come ! ” 

“Mother?” exclaimed Cathie. “Oh, she isn’t, 
Phinny ; she’ll be real pleased to have you stay. It’s 
the nicest place, Phinny.” 

“ I guess I hadn’t any business to try and find you. 


64 


The hittle Runaways 


anyway, Catherine. She don’t like it, and p’raps she 
will send us both straight back to the asylum.” 

Cathie’s face sobered at this. 

“ Oh, Phinny,” she said. 

“ Folks do, you know,” he said. 

Two very solemn-looking children came back to the 
living-room. Phinny’s face and hands and feet were 
clean. Catherine kept close beside him, and they both 
looked anxiously toward Mrs. Burton. 

“ I guess Pll be going now,” said Phinny, in a faint 
voice. “ I thank you for the food, ma’am. I didn’t 
expect you’d want me to stay.” 

“ Sit down on the sofa,” said Mrs. Burton, and the 
boy obeyed. Catherine sat down beside him. 

“ Do you want me to go, too, mother ? ” she said 
faintly. 

“ For the land’s sake, who said that I wanted either 
of you to go ! ” replied Mrs. Burton. 

Catherine’s face brightened at once. “ There, 
Phinny,” she said, “ I told you mother was glad to 
have you come. And he can sleep in the spare-room, 
can’t he ? Phinny hasn’t slept in a bed for two 
weeks ! ” 

“ I shall write to Miss Gilman to-night,” said Mrs. 
Burton, firmly, “and tell her that Phinny Trot is 



Phinny stooped and picked up the rifle 






1 


The Little Runaways 65 

here, and that she must come after him right 
away.” 

“ Yes’m,” said Phinny, but he had resolved to him- 
self that he would not go back to the asylum. He 
quickly decided that when night came he would slip 
out of the spare-room and keep on his journey until 
he found a chance to work. 

“ She don’t want me any more than the asylum folks 
do,” he thought. 


CHAPTER YII 


PHINNY AND MRS. BURTON 

“ How did you think to come, Phinny ? ” asked 
Catherine, as the two children went up to the swing 
under the big apple-tree where Cathie had her play- 
house. 

“ I don’t know,” answered the boy gloomily. “ I 
guess hearing Miss Gilman telling about how happy 
you were here, and how good Mrs. Burton was ; and 
it was so hot in the yard, and I heard Miss Gilman 
say she guessed that they must make up their minds 
to keep me, that nobody seemed to want me ; and they 
don’t,” said the boy, a little fiercely. 

“ Oh, Phinny Trot, I want you, and I’m just as 
glad as can be that you thought to come. You can 
have all the ginger-snaps you want, and isn’t it nice 
out under these lovely trees ? Don’t you like it here, 
Phinny ? ” The little girl’s voice had an anxious 
tone. 

“ I guess so,” rejoined Phinny ; “ say, did you keep 
that handkerchief I bought you for a present ? ” 

“Yes, it’s in my room in the stand-drawer,” an- 
66 


T'he Little Runaways 67 

svvered Catherine, “ and I kept the nice umbrella that 
Josie Smith gave me ; that’s in the closet.” 

“ I s’pose you want to stay here, don’t you ? ” asked 
Phinny. 

“ Why ? Don’t you want to stay ? ” 

“Don’t you see I can’t? Didn’t she say she was 
going to write for Miss Gilman to come after me 
right off? She won’t have me.” 

“ Oh, dear ! ” said Cathie. 

“ I ain’t going back to that asylum,” said the boy ; 
“ there’s nothing to do but stand around in that old 
brick yard, and nights it is so hot. I’d rather live 
in the country. I tell you what I’m going to do, 
Catherine, but don’t you tell her.” 

Catherine shook her head. 

“ Promise solemn ! Say you hope you’ll have to go 
back to that asylum if you tell ! ” demanded Phinny. 

“ I promise solemn, I hope that I’ll have to go back 
to the asylum if I tell,” repeated the little girl. 

“Well, if I say anything about going away she’ll 
stop me, and make me stay till Miss Gilman comes 
and gets me. And I’m going to stay here to-day, and 
go to bed here to-night, and then just as soon as every- 
thing’s quiet I’ll creep out of the house and start on 
again. I guess I can find a chance to work some- 


68 


The Tittle Runaways 


where,” and the boy straightened his thin shoulders, 
and tried to look as if he did not mind journeying on 
without friends or a home. 

“ Oh, Phinny, it will be all dark,” said Cathie, fear- 
fully. 

“ I don’t care for the dark,” answered the boy. 

“ I s’pose you wouldn’t want me to go with you ? ” 
suggested Cathie. 

The boy shook his head vigorously. “ Wo,” he said, 
“she likes you, and this is a nice place to stay,” and 
he looked about a little wistfully. 

The children were soon called in to dinner, and 
Mrs. Burton filled the boy’s plate with nourishing 
food, and looked a little anxiously at Catherine’s sober 
face. 

“ After dinner, Cathie, I want you to walk to the 
village and take this letter to the post-ofiSce,” said 
Mrs. Burton, “ and you step in to Miss Pitts’ shop and 
tell her I should be much obliged if she will step over 
and take tea with me to-night.” 

“Yes’m,” replied the little girl. Her eyes were 
downcast, and the corners of her mouth drooped. 

“May Phinny go with me?” she asked. 

“Wo, I guess Phineas has had walking enough for 
one while, he looks all tired out,” said Mrs. Burton. 


T^he L,ittle Runaways 69 

“ He is,” said Cathie, with a little choke in her 
voice, “ and his feet are just as sore.” 

“ Well, he can have a good rest this afternoon ; you 
start right along for the post-office, and don’t stop to 
visit with Miss Pitts. Do your errands and come 
straight home.” Mrs. Burton spoke more sharply 
than Catherine had ever before heard her. 

“ I guess she’s mad at me, ’cause Phinny came,” 
thought the little girl, as she hurried off toward the 
village ; “ p’raps when Miss Gilman comes she’ll think 
best for me to go back to the ’sylum. Oh, dear,” and 
hot tears began to roll over Catherine’s cheeks, but 
she bravely wiped them away. “ P’raps I’d better go 
with Phinny, then Miss Gilman can’t get me,” she 
thought. “I guess Phinny’d be real glad to have 
company, ’specially as it will be all dark.” 

She mailed the letter, and then walked down the 
village street to Miss Pitts’ shop. On the way she 
met Mr. Goddard, the minister, whom she had asked 
to adopt Phinny. He gave her a smiling greeting, 
and noticing the woe-begone expression on the usually 
happy face, stopped to speak to her. 

“ What’s the trouble ? ” he asked. 

Catherine looked up at him wonderingly. If he 
only would take Phinny, she thought, but she re- 


70 


'The Tittle Runaways 


membered Mrs. Burton’s caution, and did not again 
ask him if he wanted to adopt a boy. 

“ I’m doing errands,” she replied. 

“ And don’t you like to do errands for such a kind 
friend as Mrs. Burton ? ” he asked, a little reprov- 
ingly* 

“ Yes, sir,” replied Cathie, edging carefully past 
him and hurrying on. 

Mr. Goddard looked after her with a sigh. “ I hope 
Mrs. Burton has not made a mistake,” he thought. 
“ The child seemed forward the day I talked with her 
before, asking me to adopt a boy, and to-day she 
seems sullen,” so easy it is to misjudge, for Catherine 
was neither forward nor sullen. 

“ There, if I wasn’t just thinking about you, dear,” 
said Miss Pitts, when Cathie opened the screen-door 
and stepped into the shop. “ I’ve just been taking up 
some knitting for you.” 

“ I’m on an errand,” said Cathie, trying to swallow 
something which kept coming in her throat when she 
tried to talk. “ My mother would be pleased if you 
would step over to tea to-night.” 

Miss Pitts took off her glasses and wiped them care- 
fully on the corner of her white apron, then she put 
them on and looked at Cathie carefully. 


The Little Runaways 71 

‘‘Come here, my dear,” she said, and Catherine 
went obediently toward her. 

“ Mother told me not to stay, but to hurry right 
home,” she said, as Miss Pitts lifted her to her knee, 
took off the floppy leghorn hat, and brushed back the 
wavy hair from the hot little face. 

“Did she? Well, I guess you can rest a minute, 
can’t you ? ” 

“ I guess I ought to go right back,” said Cathie ; 
the choking seemed to be growing worse whenever she 
tried to talk. “ Phinny Trot has come.” 

“ What ? ” exclaimed Miss Pitts. 

“Phinny Trot has come,” repeated Cathie, “and 
mother has written to Miss Gilman to come after him 
right off.” 

“Well!” said Miss Pitts. “Does Phinny want to 
stay ? ” 

“ I^o’m, not unless mother wants him to.” 

“Well,” said Miss Pitts again, “you tell your 
mother I’ll be pleased to come to tea, and that 
I’ll be over in good season. I shall be glad to see 
Phinny.” 

Catherine looked up hopefully. “ I s’pose you don’t 
want to ” 

“ No, not a boy ! ” replied Miss Pitts firmly ; “ but I 


72 


T^he Ljittle Runaways 


have a real nice plan in my head for Phinny Trot, 
and for you, too.” 

Catherine looked eagerly up into the kind face. 

“But I shall have to tell Mrs. Burton first and see 
what she says. How does she seem to like Phinny ? ” 

“ She doesn’t seem to like him,” said Cathie. 

“Well, don’t you worry; you just whisper to 
Phinny when you get home that Miss Pitts has a nice 
plan for him ; and for him to be real pleasant and 
polite to Mrs. Burton, and after tea to-night we’ll tell 
you all about it.” 

“And won’t Phinny have to go back to the 
’sylum?” questioned Cathie, the choky feeling all 
going out of her throat. 

Miss Pitts smiled knowingly. 

“ You just wait and see,” she replied. “Now I am 
going to give you a big apple for yourself and one for 
Phinny.” 

“ Oh, goody,” said Catherine, the happy smile com- 
ing back to her face, “and I guess I must hurry home 
now.” 

“ Well, I wouldn’t hurry and get all het up,” advised 
the milliner. “Just step along comfortably. Pll be 
over real early,” and Cathie, with an apple in each 
hand, started for home. 


The Tittle Runaways 73 

“ I know mother will be glad to hear the plan,” she 
thought happily. 

Mrs. Burton was at work on a dress for Dinah when 
Cathie came into the sitting-room. The boy was not 
in sight. 

“ Where’s Phinny ? ” asked Catherine, eagerly. 
“ Miss Pitts sent him an apple, and she’ll be pleased 
to come to tea early, and she has a plan for Phinny.” 

“Has she?” replied Mrs. Burton. “Well, I hope 
it’s a plan that has some sense to it. The boy is out 
in the shed.” 

Cathie noticed that Dinah was already partly 
dressed, and that the little rocking-chair and table, 
with the work-box on top of it, stood near Mrs. Bur- 
ton’s chair ; but she did not seem to care about sew- 
ing to-day, and hurried out to give Phinny the 
apple. 

The two children sat down in the shed door, and 
Cathie began to tell Phinny what Miss Pitts had said. 

“How shall I be polite?” asked Phinny. 

“ I guess,” said Catherine thoughtfully, “ it would 
be polite for you to ask her if she wouldn’t like your 
apple.” 

“ All of it ? ” asked Phinny. 

Catherine nodded. “She will probably say, ‘Ho, 


/ 


74 T^he Liittle Runaways 

thank you,’ but if she takes it I’ll give you half of 
mine.” 

“ All right,” said the boy, “ but I wish that woman 
had told you what her plan was. Has she a farm ? ” 

“No,” said Catherine, turning her apple over ad- 
miringly ; “ she’s a milliner.” 

“ What’s a milliner ? ” asked the boy. 

“ A milliner is a lady who makes hats, and has 
boxes of beads, and ribbons, and lives over her shop.” 

“Oh,” said Phinny, “then she wouldn’t want to 
adopt a boy.” 

Catherine shook her head. “ No,” she said, “ I’ve 
asked her ’most every time I’ve seen her; and she 
hardly waits for me to ask before she says no.” 

“ I guess I’ll go in and ask Mrs. Burton if she wants 
this apple,” said Phinny, and he made his somewhat 
reluctant way toward the sitting-room. Mrs. Burton 
looked up as he came in the door. 

“Wouldn’t you like to have this apple?” the boy 
asked shyly, holding it out toward her. 

“For the land’s sake,” said Mrs. Burton, and then 
the boy’s thin face and anxious eyes softened her heart 
a little, and she smiled upon him for the first time. 
“ No, dear,” she said, “ you eat it yourself ; but you 
are a real polite boy to offer it to me. There’s a plate 


The Tittle Runaways 


IS 


of cookies in the closet ; you tell Cathie to get some 
for you if you get hungry.” The boy looked at her 
vvonderingly. She had actually called him “dear,” 
and had said that he was a polite boy. He began to 
think that this Miss Pitts might have a plan worth 
listening to. He stood awkwardly silent. 

“ Did you ever see a black Dinah ? ” asked Mrs. 
Burton, lifting the doll. “ I’ve just made this one for 
Cathie.” 

“ Yes’m,” said the boy, but he did not look at 
Dinah ; his eyes were fixed on Mrs. Burton’s kind face, 
until she said, 

“ How, run out and eat your apple with Cathie.” 

“ I wish she’d take me,” the boy thought, as he 
went slowly back to the shed. “ I guess I’d like her 
as well as Catherine does.” 

“ What’d she say ? ” asked the little girl. 

The boy sat down beside her and put the apple on 
the upper step, then he began to examine the toes on 
his right foot very carefully. 

“ She said, ‘ Ho, dear,’ ” he answered huskily ; “ and 
she said I was a very polite boy.” 

“ My,” said Catherine, smiling at him, “ I shouldn’t 
be a mite s’prised if she was going to ’dopt you too, 
Phinny.” 


CHAPTEE YIII 

MISS PITTS’ PLAN 

“ Did you ever see the beat 1 ” was Mrs. Burton’s 
greeting when Miss Pitts came over in the late after- 
noon. Mrs. Burton’s usually smiling face was clouded 
with anxiety. “ I declare, Eliza,” she continued, as 
Miss Pitts removed her shade hat and gray lisle-thread 
gloves and seated herself near the window, “ if I know 
what to do. That boy has come, and he’s a good boy, 
if ever I saw one, and he’s got to go right back to the 
asylum. I have written to Miss Gilman to come after 
him the minute she gets my letter ; and by good rights 
she ought to get here to-morrow afternoon.” 

“ Cathie’s eyes were all red. She had been crying 
when she got to my shop,” said Miss Pitts. 

“ I suppose she had. I never see the beat of Cathie ; 
she was so tickled to have Phineas come, and ever 
since I spoke of sending him back where he belongs 
she has acted as if she were afraid of me.” 

“ She probably thinks that you will send her back.” 

Mrs. Burton laughed a little at the suggestion. “ I 
should just as soon think of going to the asylum my- 
76 


The Tittle Runaways 77 

self as I should of sending Catherine there. Why, she 
is just the same as my own.” » 

“ You never thought of adopting a boy ? ” asked 
Miss Pitts. 

“ Eliza Pitts, I never thought of adopting anything. 
Cathie walked in here as if I had sent for her, but as 
for this boy, I can’t take him. I don’t want him, and 
if I did I couldn’t afford to feed and clothe him. My 
soul ! to hear you talk, Eliza, anybody would think I 
was set down here to look out for and bring up every 
orphan child that saw fit to run away.” 

“ Where is Phinny, now ? ” asked Miss Pitts. 

“ He and Cathie are on the side steps. I gave him 
a pocket-knife I happened to have, and, near as I can 
make out, he’s whittling out a boat for Cathie to sail 
in the brook.” 

Miss Pitts tiptoed carefully out into the kitchen and 
looked through the door at the children. 

“ Did you ever see anything so thin and homely as 
that boy?” whispered Mrs. Burton, who had followed 
her. 

The two women stepped softly back to the sitting- 
room and sat down. 

“ Father left some pretty good coats,” remarked 
Miss Pitts thoughtfully. Mrs. Burton made no 


78 


The Tittle Runaways 


response. “ And as for blouses for a boy that size, it 
isn’t a bit of work to make a few gingham blouses.” 
Mrs. Burton remained silent, and Miss Pitts com 
tinned, as if thinking aloud, “ there’s enough good 
cloth in father’s old clothes to fit that boy out for a 
year, and I’d take pleasure in knitting him enough 
good stout stockings and mittens for the winter. I 
suppose his boots would cost something.” 

“ For the land’s sake, Eliza, are you planning to 
adopt Phineas ? Is that the plan Cathie said you 
wanted to talk over ? ” and Mrs. Burton stopped 
rocking and turned an eager look toward her friend. 

“ Me ? Adopt a boy ! ” Miss Pitts looked at her 
hostess in astonishment. “ What on earth would I do 
with a boy ? Teach him millinery ? I am surprised 
that you should think of such a thing ! ” and Miss Pitts 
turned her reproachful gaze upon Mrs. Burton. 

“ Well, you seemed to be planning out clothes for 
him.” 

‘‘ I was planning to be of help to you, Mrs. Burton. 
I thought if you saw your waj^ to giving Phinnie a 
home I’d agree to fit him out with suitable cloth- 
ing ; and more than that ” — and Miss Pitts made 
an impressive pause — “ I’ll take Cathie off your 
hands.” 


"The Little Runaways 79 

“ My soul ! ” ejaculated Mrs. Burton, beginning to 
rock vigorously. 

“Yes,” continued Miss Pitts, “it flashed into my 
mind the minute I saw the poor child to-day. She 
looked so unhappy, and was so miserable about that 
poor boy, that I thought in a minute, ‘ There ! Mrs. 
Burton can take Phinny, and Cathie can come and 
live with me.’ ” 

“ You did ! ” said Mrs. Burton in a faint voice. 

“ Yes,” replied Miss Pitts ; “ to tell you the truth, 1 
took a fancy to Cathie the minute I saw her, and if 
you hadn’t taken her I should have.” 

Mrs. Burton looked at her friend in amazement. 

“ Eliza Pitts ! ” she said solemnly, “ have you the 
heart to sit there and tell me that you expect me to 
hand over my own little girl and take that red-haired, 
long-legged boy in exchange ? ” 

The two women had become so interested in their 
discussion that they had not heard the children come 
in through the kitchen, but Phinny and Cathie now 
stood at the sitting-room door and, at a motion from 
Phinny, Cathie kept silent. 

“ I don’t see why not,” responded Miss Pitts. 
“ Cathie’s adoption papers are not signed, and I guess 
I can give her as good a bringing-up as you can ; and 


8o 


The Tittle Runaways 


a boy would be a great deal more useful to you on a 
place like this than a girl would. You really need a 
boy here.” 

As Cathie heard this she clasped Phinny’s hand, 
and nodded happily. 

“Well, Eliza,” said Mrs. Burton more amiably, 
“you can give up that plan right off. Cathie will 
stay right here with me, and the boy goes back to the 
asylum to-morrow.” 

“Oh, dear,” said Cathie, from the doorway, and 
both the women turned in surprise to see the two 
children looking at them with solemn faces. 

“ Oh, Miss Pitts, won’t she let Phinny stay ? ” said 
Cathie, running toward Miss Pitts. “ Why won’t she 
let him stay ? ” 

Miss Pitts looked over Cathie’s head and nodded 
triumphantly toward Mrs. Burton. 

“ Cathie,” said Mrs. Burton, “ come here. Miss 
Pitts says that she wants me to take Phineas, and let 
you go and live with her.” 

“ Then Phinny would have a nice home here with 
Mrs. Burton,” interrupted Miss Pitts, “ and you would 
see him almost every day, and he could bring in wood, 
and help her, and you would have a nice home with 
me. Don’t you think that would be nice, Cathie ? ” 


The Little Runaways 


8i 


“Yes’m,” said Cathie, a little faintly. Miss Pitts 
nodded toward Mrs. Burton again. 

“ And you are willing to come and live with me 
if Mrs. Burton will take Phinny ? ” questioned Miss 
Pitts. 

The little girl turned an anxious looks toward Mrs. 
Burton. 

“ I guess my mother wants me to stay here,” she 
said faintly. 

“ Then you are a selfish little girl,” said Miss Pitts. 
“ You could have gotten a nice home for Phinny, but 
you won’t.” 

“ Oh ! ” said Catherine, “ oh, Phinny 1 ” and she 
turned toward the door. But Phinny was not 
there. Out to the shed ran Cathie, calling “ Phinnie, 
Phinny,” but no answer came. Out under the apple- 
trees she ran calling his name, while Mrs. Burton and 
Miss Pitts looked up and down the road for a sight 
of the missing boy. 

Catherine came back to the house crying bitterly. 

“ He’s runned off again,” she sobbed, “ and his poor 
toes are all hurt, and Phinny thinks nobody wants 
him. Oh, dear, oh, mother, you’d ought to took 
Phinny.” 

It was dark before they gave up looking for the 


82 


The Tittle Runaways 


boy, and for the first time since she had found a 
home Catherine cried herself to sleep. 

“We didn’t seem to think that that poor boy had 
any feelings,” said Mrs. Burton, when she bade Miss 
Pitts good-night. 

“ I know it,” agreed Miss Pitts remorsefully. “ I 
tell you what, Mrs. Burton, when we do find him he 
shall stay right with me and I’ll do everything I can 
for him.” 

“ There, Eliza ! ” replied Mrs. Burton admiringly, 
“ if you haven’t got the best heart in the world ; but 
I’ve been thinking that if you felt like helping out 
with the boy’s clothes as you spoke of doing, that I’d 
have him stay right here. He’d be a sight of com- 
pany for Cathie, and, as you were saying, he’d be a 
good deal of help to me. I guess I could manage all 
right.” 

“To think of his starting off like that with his 
poor, sore feet,” said Miss Pitts. “He saw that he 
wasn’t wanted and he wouldn’t hang around. I be- 
lieve he’s a real manly sort of a boy.” 

“We must try and get track of him and get him 
back some way,” responded Mrs. Burton. “ Soon as 
morning comes I’m going to get the Jones boy to 
hitch up and drive me up the river road. I don’t be^ 


T^he l^ittle Runaways 83 

iieve a boy as tired as Phinny will get very far, and I 
mean to find him.” 

“ Well, I’m willing to do my part,” said Miss Pitts. 
‘‘ I’ll keep my eye out on the way home, and to- 
morrow I’ll get Mr. Goddard to drive me toward the 
Junction,” and with anxious hearts the two friends 
said good-night. 

As Phinny overheard the discussion in regard to 
Cathie going to live with Miss Pitts, a new trouble 
came into his heart. He heard Miss Pitts say that 
Catherine’s papers of adoption were not yet signed. 
That meant, he thought, that the little girl could be 
sent back to the asylum at any time, and all because 
he had come to this place where Cathie was so happy. 
The boy felt that he had spoiled everything. He 
wished that he had stayed at the asylum. What if 
the brick-paved yard was hot, and what matter if he 
did not like living there ; men had to stand hard 
things ; and he straightened his thin little shoulders. 
He would go on, he would not bother people, and the 
boy fled through the kitchen, across the orchard, and 
down the river road. His feet hurt him, but he Avent 
on as rapidly as he could go until after dusk, then he 
crawled over a Avail and lay doAvn in a bed of tall 
brakes. His feet ached, a chill little wind Avas blow- 


84 


The Tittle Runaways 


ing, and Phinny was hungry. He began to feel a 
little sorry for himself. 

“ I wish she had liked me,” he thought. “ She 
called me ‘ dear ’ ; I s’pose she calls Catherine ‘ dear ’ 
every day,” and with this thought the tired boy went 
to sleep. 


CHAPTEE IX 


FINDING PHINNY 

When Miss Gilman arrived at Mrs. Burton’s house 
the next day she was surprised to find it closed, and 
after waiting on the front steps until warned by Am- 
brose that her train was nearly due, she returned to 
Boston wondering if Mrs. Burton, Catherine and 
Phinny had all run off together. 

Earl}’' that morning Mrs. Burton and Catherine 
were astir, and for once Princess did not receive much 
attention. As soon as breakfast was over Cathie was 
sent to their next neighbor’s to ask Leander Jones to 
hitch up his white horse and take them down the 
river road to look for Phinny. Leander Jones was 
nearly fifteen, and often did errands for Mrs. Burton. 
He listened to Catherine’s story and quickly harnessed 
his horse and went after Mrs. Burton. 

“ How you drive slow, Leander,” said Mrs. Burton, 
“and tend right to the horse, for I don’t want to be 
upset out of this wagon, heavy as I be, and Cathie 
and I will keep a sharp outlook for Phineas.” 

“ Don’t you think I’d better hurry along, ma’am, 

85 


86 


The Tittle Runaways 


for a few miles ? ” suggested Leander. “ He would 
be apt to go as fast as he could until it got pretty 
dark.” 

“So he would,” agreed Mrs. Burton. “Well, you 
use your best judgment, Leander, and when you get 
about as far as a tired boy would be apt to run, then 
you begin to slow up.” 

Catherine was very quiet. She felt that if she had 
only agreed to Miss Pitts’ plan to go and live with 
her that Mrs. Burton would have made Phinny wel- 
come. And, though the thought of leaving her new 
home and mother seemed exile to the little girl, she 
felt that Miss Pitts was right in calling her selfish. 
She felt it was her fault that Phinny was homeless. 

Mrs. Burton had not slept well. She, too, re- 
proached herself for not making the boy welcome at 
her home, and her deep sighs as they rode along caused 
the Jones boy to turn a cautious look of wonder in her 
direction. 

About three miles down the river road Leander 
brought old Whitey out of the comfortable trot into 
a slow walk. The road now ran very near to the 
river, and they could look across the stream and see 
the smooth fields and comfortable farmhouses on the 
other side. 


'The Tittle Runaways 87 

“Phinny wouldn’t try to get across that river, 
would he ? ” asked Cathie, anxiously. 

‘‘My soul ! ” said Mrs. Burton. “ I should hope not. 
It’s too deep to wade and too wide to swim. ” 

“ There’s a shallow place further down where people 
ford the river,” said Leander. “ He could get across 
there all right ; and I shouldn’t wonder if that’s what 
he did. It’s what I should do if I was running away. 
Whoa ! ” and Leander leaned over Mrs. Burton and 
carefully observed a stone wall. 

“ What do you see, Leander ? ” whispered Mrs. 
Burton. 

“ You just hold the reins, ma’am, and let me get 
out a minute.” 

Mrs. Burton took the reins obediently, and the boy 
sprang from the wagon. 

He walked slowly toward the wall where the grass 
had been crushed by steps, and peered over ; then he 
turned a triumphant look toward Mrs. Burton. 

“ I’ll bet he slept right here all night,” he said. 
“ The brakes are all crushed down close up to this 
wall. Probably he hasn’t been gone from this place 
more than two hours.” 

“ Which way did he go ? ” demanded Mrs. Burton. 

The Jones boy shook his head. 


88 


The Tittle Runaways 


“ I should have kept along near the wall toward the 
ford,” he said, climbing back into the wagon. “ I 
should’ve kept near the wall so as to jump over if I 
heard any one coming. But this boy doesn’t know 
about the ford and he may go straight by.” 

Leander took the reins from Mrs. Burton’s willing 
hands and old Whitey resumed her slow walk. 

“ There isn’t a house this side of the ford, is there ? ” 
said Mrs. Burton. “ Phineas will be dreadful hungry.” 

“ Oh, dear,” said Cathie ; “ and we didn’t think to 
bring anything for him to eat.” 

“ Yes, indeed we did, my dear,” replied Mrs. Burton. 
“ What did you suppose mother put that basket in the 
wagon for ? There is a nice luncheon in that basket.” 

“We may need it even if we don’t find the boy,” 
suggested Leander. 

“ Like as not,” agreed Mrs. Burton. 

When they reached the fording place they were un- 
certain what to do. The road down to the ford was 
not much traveled, while the main road now led on by 
farmhouses, and a church-spire could be seen in a neigh- 
boring village. 

Old Whitey was again brought to a full stop, while 
Mrs. Burton considered the subject. 

“ I declare, Leander, I’m going to leave it to you. 


‘The Tittle Runaways 


89 


‘ Set a boy to catch a boy.’ Now, if you were running 
away, and if you were a stranger in these parts, and 
looked down toward the river and saw that you could 
get across, and then looked along a smooth road to a 
village, which would you take ? ” 

Leander pointed to the river. 

“Would you go that way if you hadn’t had any 
breakfast ? ” asked Cathie. 

The Jones boy nodded. 

“Well,” said Mrs. Burton with a sigh, “you be 
dreadful careful and not run up against any hidden 
rocks and upset us.” 

The Jones boy seemed much amused by Mrs. Bur- 
ton’s advice, but he answered respectfully, “ Yes, 
ma’am. I’ll be careful, but you can see all the rocks 
there are, ma’am ; the river is pretty low here.” 

However, he drove down the slope to the river very 
carefully, and Whitey waded into the cool water as if 
she enjoyed it. Mrs. Burton held tight hold of the 
wagon seat with one hand, and looked fearfully ahead. 
They crossed the stream safely, and on the other side 
were again in a puzzle, wondering which way Phinny 
would turn. 

“We ought to be pretty near to him now,” said 
Leander. 


90 


The Tittle Runaways 


Cathie was looking carefully at everything on her 
side of the road, and suddenly she called out, 

“ Oh, whoa the horse, whoa the horse ; I see 
Phinny.” 

Before old Whitey had fairly come to a standstill, 
the little girl was out of the wagon and over a low 
stone wall, and running rapidly across the field after 
a fleeing boy. 

“You hold the reins, ma’am,” said the Jones boy; 
and in a moment he had joined in the pursuit. 

“ Phinny, Phinny,” called Cathie, but although the 
boy turned his head for an instant, he did not stop 
running. They could see that he limped, and at last 
he gave up and fell forward upon his face in the soft 
grass. 

“ Go back and get my mother,” commanded Cath- 
erine, and the Jones boy reluctantly retraced his steps 
toward the wagon, while Cathie ran on toward 
Phinny. 

The boy did not move when the little girl stopped 
beside him, and Cathie could see that he was crying. 
The ragged straw hat was gone, and Cathie put her 
hand gently on the rough red head, and in a moment 
put her own head down beside his. 

“ Oh, Phinny,” she said, “ ain’t you awful hungry ? ” 


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The boy did not move 



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The Tittle Runaways 91 

The boy made no answer. 

“ Mother has got lunch for you in a basket,” she 
continued. “ She and the Jones boy are fetching it 
across the field now, and Fhinny, my mother likes 
you.” 

At this the boy turned his head and looked at her 
cautiously. 

“ Sit up, Phinny, before that Jones boy sees you,” 
warned Cathie, and Phinny slowly rolled over and 
drew himself into a sitting posture, wiping his eyes on 
his shirt sleeve. 

“Oh, Phinny, you are going to be took!” said 
Cathie. 

“ Not much I ain’t,” responded the boy. “ I won’t 
go back to that old asylum ; I’ll get away yet.” 

“’Dopted, I mean, Phinny, truly ’dopted; my 
mother’s going to take you.” 

The boy regarded her doubtfully. Mrs. Burton and 
the Jones boy, carrying the lunch basket, were now 
near at hand, and in a moment Mrs. Burton sat down 
beside them. 

“ I’m tired out,” she declared ; “ and hungry too. 
Leander, you just open that lunch basket and set forth 
what there is. Phineas, you step over here beside me.” 
The boy limped to her side. 


92 


The Little Runaways 


“Sit right down, dear; right between me and 
Cathie. You must be hungry.” 

“ Yes’m,” said the boy slowly. 

“ Well, boys that run off from a good home usually 
do get hungry. Now, you listen to me. Don’t you 
ever run off again unless you have good shoes on your 
feet, a blanket to sleej) under at night, and a good lot 
of food with you.” 

The boys both smiled at this, and Mrs. Burton con- 
tinued, 

“ I didn’t get much sleep worrying about you, 
Phineas, and now as I’m going to have you live with 
me and Cathie for a spell I hope you won’t run off 
again. Do you like chicken sandwiches ? Leander, 
we might as well call this a picnic. You just take out 
that bottle of milk that’s wrapped up in a wet cloth 
and pass it to Phineas.” 

Cathie was not very hungry, but she sat very close 
to her friend and spread his bread very thick with 
apple jelly. When she looked at his feet she resolved 
to learn to knit as soon as she could so that Phinny 
could have some nice soft stockings. 

It was late in the afternoon when Mrs. Burton and 
the children reached home. Phineas and Leander 
had made friends during the ride, and, although 


T^he I^ittle Runaways 


93 


Phinny did not say much, he sat very straight beside 
Leander, and when he looked toward Mrs. Burton his 
eyes seemed to shine with affection. 

“ I wish she’d make believe I was her boy,” he 
whispered to Catherine. The little girl nodded hap- 
pily. “ She will,” she replied. 

Miss Pitts was waiting for them, comfortably seated 
on the front door-step. There was a large bundle be- 
side her. 

“ I just stitched up a blouse,” she whispered to Mrs. 
Burton, as they went into the sitting-room, “and I 
stepped over to the store and got him a straw hat and 
a brush and comb.” 

“ There,” said Mrs. Burton, admiringly, “ if that 
ain’t just like you, Eliza ! How did you know that 
we’d find him ? ” 

“ I felt sure of it,” replied Miss Pitts. “ I got 
father’s old clothes out to-day, and just as soon as I 
can get a pattern I’ll cut him out some trousers.” 

Before Phinny went to bed that night in the spare- 
room, Mrs. Burton had a little talk with him. He 
listened carefullj^, and told her he should never want 
to run away again if she was sure she wanted him to 
stay. 

“ I can do errands, and chop wood, and make your 


94 


The Tittle Runaways 


garden,” he said ; “ and when I get older I’ll earn 
money for you.” 

“There, bless you, of course you will,” responded 
Mrs. Burton. “ And I’ll do the best I can for you. 
It ain’t so I can do everything I’d like to, but I guess 
you and Cathie will be real happy here, and Miss 
Pitts brought you over a nice striped blouse and a new 
hat.” 

“ I’m much obliged,” said Phinny, soberly. “ You’re 
awful good to me, ma’am.” 


CHAPTER X 


MAKING FEIENDS 

Phinny did not need to be called the next 
morning. He was awake very early, and could hear 
the sleepy twittering of birds in their nests in the big 
elm-tree whose branches almost touched the windows. 
He turned his head on the soft pillow and looked 
about the room. On the walls was the most beautiful 
paper he had ever seen. It was a pale gray tint with 
wreaths of pink roses scattered over it. These wreaths 
seemed to be held together on the gray background 
with pink ribbons. There was a fireplace of shining 
red bricks, and on the mantel-shelf stood two tall 
brass candlesticks. There was a high chest of 
drawers, and there was a long gilt mirror between 
the two windows. There were two high-backed 
chairs, and on the floor was the loveliest carpet ! 
Phinny leaned over the side of the bed to look at it. 
It seemed to have every color in it, and yet they all 
blended into a soft tone that was restful and well 
suited to the room. After Phinny had looked about 
this lovely room he began to wonder if Mrs. Burton 
really wanted him to stay in this beautiful place. 

95 


96 


T'he L,ittle Runaways 


“ She said she did,” he whispered to himself, as he 
slid quietly out of bed and began to dress. “And 
I’m going to do everything I can for her so she won’t 
ever be sorry.” The boy was down-stairs by the time 
the sun was up and laid the kitchen fire ready to light. 
Then he swept off the back porch, and seeing nothing 
more that he could do he sat down on the steps and 
waited for Mrs. Burton, and it was not long before he 
heard her step on the stairs. 

“ Well, I declare ! ” she exclaimed approvingly, when 
she found the fire ready to light, and saw Phinny sit- 
ting on the steps. “ I guess you are going to be a real 
help, and I’ll have breakfast ready in a jiffy. You 
just take this bucket and pump some nice fresh water,” 
and she handed a wooden bucket to the boy, who hur- 
ried away with it to the pump. 

“ Cathie likes to sleep,” said Mrs. Burton, when 
Phinny brought in the pail brimming with clear, 
sparkling water ; “ and I like to have her ; it’s good 
for little girls and for boys, too. Didn’t you sleep 
well, Phineas ? ” and she looked at him a little 
anxiously. 

“ Yes’m,” replied the boy ; “that’s a lovely room I 
slept in. I guess it’s too good for me. That nice 
carpet and everything.” 


'The Tittle Runaways 


97 


“I made that carpet,” said Mrs. Burton, a little 
note of satisfaction in her voice. “ It’s a rag carpet, 
and I sewed the rags and wove it, and the room ain’t 
a mite too good for you if you’ll only be just a little 
careful.” 

“Yes’m,” said Phinny. “I’ll try and be careful, 
but I’m afraid I’ll wear the carpet out.” 

“ Never mind,” said Mrs. Burton. “ I should like 
to make another one. I’ve got my loom in the shed 
chamber, and sewing carpet-rags will be something for 
Cathie and me to do winter evenings, so you needn’t 
worry about the carpet, not a mite.” ^ 

“ Couldn’t I sew carpet-rags too ? ” asked Phinny. 

“ I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t,” agreed 
Mrs. Burton, as she looked kindly toward the thin- 
faced boy. 

“ Now, Phineas,” she continued, as she filled the tea- 
kettle and put it on the stove, “ you seem like a real 
sensible boy, so I’m going to talk sense to you. 
Cathie’s a girl, and nothing but a baby, anyway, and 
I know all about girls and how to bring them up, and 
I ain’t worried a mite but what I can do well by her, 
but boys are different ; I don’t know a thing about 
bringing up boys,” and Mrs. Burton turned such an 
anxious look toward Phinny that he smiled at her 


98 


T'he Little Runaways 


encouragingly ; “and I shall expect a good deal of 
you, Phineas. I shall expect you to be a credit to 
me. I don’t plan to adopt you, and give you my 
name, same as I do Cathie, but I’ll tell you just what 
I do plan. I will give you a home, and send you to 
school and treat you just like a son until you are big 
enough and capable of earning your living. Now, if 
you are satisfied to stay with me on those terms. I’ll 
see to it that the asylum folks consent.” 

Phinny had been watching Mrs. Burton anxiously. 

“ I’d like to stay,” he answered. 

“ That’s right. Now that’s all settled. And about 
bringing you up, Phineas ; you’ll have to sort of rest 
on your own judgment, for I’m afraid I shan’t know 
how to deal with you. You just go right ahead and 
do what you think is right, and any time when you 
ain’t quite sure about it, we’ll talk it over together.” 

“ Yes’m,” said the boy seriously. 

“ There I guess then everything is all settled. This 
is your home now, and don’t you worry about that 
carpet ; don’t track in any more dirt than’s necessary, 
and everything will be all right. Do you like eggs 
boiled or dropped on toast ? ” 

Phinny felt that this was too much consideration. 

“ I don’t care which way,” he answered. 


T'he Little Runaways 


99 


“ Now, Phineas,” said Mrs. Burton, a little sternly, 
“don’t ever say that about anything. You do care, 
and if you don’t, you ought to. Stop and think. 
Will eggs taste better to you boiled or dropped on 
toast? You must decide on things yourself; no 
matter if it’s eggs or what it is, I expect you to have 
decision. How on earth are you going to bring your- 
self up if you can’t decide on a little thing like eggs ? 
Now, Phineas, how do you want your eggs ? ” 

“ Boiled ! ” replied Phineas firmly. 

“ That’s right ! ” said Mrs. Burton admiringly ; 
“ and do you like them hard or soft ? ” 

“ Hard,” replied Phinny. 

Mrs. Burton nodded again. “You just keep your 
eyes on this fire while I step up-stairs and attend to 
Cathie,” she said, filling a pitcher with warm water 
and putting a towel over her arm. “ I suppose you’ve 
washed your face and hands. I see you’ve brushed 
your hair.” 

“ Yes’m,” said the boy. 

When Mrs. Burton got up-stairs Cathie was fast 
asleep, and Princess lay curled up on the foot of the 
bed fast asleep also. 

Mrs. Burton stooped over and kissed the little girl, 
who opened her eyes and smiled up at her sleepily. 

Lora 


loo ‘The Tittle Runaways 

“ I was dreaming about Phinny,” she said. 

“Well, now spring right up, for Phineas is down- 
stairs waiting for his breakfast, and after breakfast I 
want you to show him where our vegetable garden is 
and tell him all about the barn, and the shed, and 
how to feed the chickens, and everything, because 
Phineas is going to live with us now.” 

“ My,” said Cathie, “ isn’t it lovely Phinny hap- 
pened to come here ? And isn’t it nice that you had 
a spare room for him ? ” 

“ You wear your pink calico to-day,” responded 
Mrs. Burton, turning back toward the stairway. 

“ If ever I see the beat,” she said to herself as she 
returned to the kitchen ; “ if Cathie don’t seem to 
think that it’s a favor to me to have every stray child 
in the state come wandering in here for me to take 
care of.” 

Phinny was standing directly in front of the stove, 
and Mrs. Burton patted his thin shoulder as she went 
past him. 

“You didn’t put on your new blouse this morning, 
did you, sonny ? ” she said. 

The boy looked at her gratefully. “ Did you want 
me to ? ” he asked eagerly. 

“Ko, by to-morrow I’ll have you some new trousers 


T^he L,ittle Runaways loi 

and undershirts, and we’ll have to see about shoes and 
stockings for Sundays, and for you to wear when 
school begins.” 

Cathie could hardly eat her breakfast, because she 
had so much to talk about; and as soon as Phinny 
had finished his eggs and toast and drank his glass 
of milk she wanted him to go and see the garden, and 
the brook, and the white chickens. But Phinny 
stood close by the table looking at Mrs. Burton, and 
only nodded in answer to Cathie. 

“ Can’t I wash the dishes ? ” he asked. “ I know 
how ; I used to help wash dishes at the asylum.” 

“Well, now you are real thoughtful, Phineas,” said 
Mrs. Burton ; “ but I guess I will wash the dishes. 
However, perhaps some day I shall want you to, and 
I’m real glad you know how.” Then, as Phineas 
stood looking at her a little wistfully, she said, “ I 
would like to have you feed the chickens ; I generally 
mix up some meal and shorts for them. I’ll step out 
in the shed and show you how to mix it this morning, 
and after this you can do it yourself. You just bring 
me a dipper of water,” and followed by the children 
Mrs. Burton went out to the shed. 

In one corner of the shed stood two covered barrels, 
a tin pan set on the top of one. Mrs. Burton mixed 


102 ‘The Tittle Runaways 

the food for the chickens and gave the pan to 
Phinny. 

“Cathie will show you the chicken-house, and be 
sure the door is fastened when you come out ; and if 
that white rooster tries to gobble up more than his 
share, you just drive him off, and see that the others 
get what belongs to them.” 

“ Yes’m,” said both the children, starting across the 
yard to the chicken-house, while Mrs. Burton went 
back to her kitchen. 

Cathie ran along ahead while the boy followed more 
slowly, carrying the pan of food very carefully. 

After they had fed the chickens Cathie showed him 
Mrs. Burton’s vegetable garden. Phinny noticed that 
there were weeds and grass growing among the young 
plants, and when they went back to the house he asked 
Mrs. Burton if he could not weed the garden. 

“Well, I don’t know,” she answered slowly. “Are 
you sure you know tomato plants from chicory-weed, 
and can you tell young onions from witch-grass ? ” 

“ Come and see,” said Phinny eagerly. 

“ Those are weeds, and those are weeds, and those 
are weeds,” said the boy, pointing to the grass and 
weeds which grew rankly along the garden bed. 

“ So they are,” said Mrs. Burton ; “ but how does a 


The Little Runaways 103 

boy who has lived in a brick yard know about 
weeds ? ” 

“ Oh, they grow out in the open lots back of the 
asylum,” said the boy. “ But what is a tomato plant, 
and what is a young onion ? ” 

Then Mrs. Burton pointed out the tomatoes, and 
the onions, the carrots and turnips, and showed him 
the flourishing plot of potatoes. “And here is my 
herb garden,” she said, going to a corner near the 
chicken-house ; “ here is where I get my sage to put in 
the stuffing for roast chicken, and here is where the 
mint grows to make mint-sauce for lamb ; and this is 
summer-savory, and this is lemon- verbena.” 

Phinny watched and listened eagerly, and repeated 
the names of the plants and herbs. 

“ Can I take care of the garden ? ” he asked. 

“ Why, I should like to have you,” replied Mrs. Bur- 
ton. “ I have always hired the Jones boy to do it, 
but Leander ain’t much interested in gardens, and come 
to think of it he hasn’t been near this garden for two 
weeks. It will be a great help to have you do it. I’ll 
show you where I keep the trowel and hoe.” 

“ Ain’t Phinny going to play with me any ? ” ques- 
tioned Cathie. “ He hasn’t seen my beads, nor Dinah, 
nor the brook, nor anything.” 


104 Liittle Runaways 

“I can see those after I get through weeding,” said 
Phinny. 

“ I guess I needed a boy just like you, Phineas,” said 
Mrs. Burton approvingly. 

Phinny went to work on the weeds, and Cathie sat 
down on the grass and watched him happily. 

“ Isn’t it nice that we are both right here with my 
mother ? ” she said. 

Phinny nodded. “ But she isn’t going to be my 
mother,” he said ; “ she’s going to let me stay here and 
do well by me, and she said I’d have to bring myself 
up because she didn’t know much about boys.” 

“ Oh, Phinny, but you don’t know how to bring 
yourself up,” said Catherine. 

The boy nodded again. “ Yes, I do, too,” he said. 
“ She told me to go right ahead and do what I thought 
was right, and I’m going to. Of course I must help 
all I can.” 

“ But I am truly ’dopted,” said Cathie. “ Oh, I wish 
my mother would truly ’dopt you, Phinny.” 

“ Girls are different,” said Phinny. “ I guess I’m 
pretty lucky not to be sent straight back to the 
asylum.” 

“ P’raps my mother will ’dopt you, Phinny,” urged 
the little girl. 


'The Liittle Runaways 105 

But the boy shook his head. “Don’t talk about it, 
Cathie,” he said. “ She says I am going to school, 
and am to wear shoes and stockings Sundays ! ” 

The children looked at each other and smiled. 

“ Well, anyway, aren’t you just glad you came ? ” 
said Cathie. 


CHAPTER XI 


GOING FISHING 

Phinny was busy in the garden one morning about 
a week after his arrival at Mrs. Burton’s, when he saw 
Leander Jones coming across the field. Leander had 
on a big straw hat, his trousers were rolled above 
his knees, and he carried a long pole over his shoulder. 

“ Hullo ! ” he called, as he came near the garden 
fence. “ Want to go fishing ? ” 

Phinny’s eyes brightened and he was on his feet in 
an instant ; then he looked at the little sprouts of grass 
springing up along the garden beds, and he suddenly 
remembered that Mrs. Burton had said she should 
want him to take a basket of eggs to the village store, 
and he shook his head. 

“ Why not ? ” asked Leander. “ Won’t Mrs. Burton 
let you ? ” 

“ I guess she would if I asked her,” said Phinny. 

“ Then hurry up and ask her. I’ve got bait enough 
for both of us, and I’ll lend you a line and you can cut 
a pole. It's kind of hazy this morning, and I’ll bet the 
trout will bite fine. Hurry up.” 

io6 


"The L,ittle Runaways 107 

“ I can’t go.” Phinny was down on his knees 
again, and had begun weeding. He remembered that 
Mrs. Burton had told him that he would have to de- 
cide about things for himself, and that he must decide 
right. 

“All right,” said Leander, good-naturedly; “you 
can go next time.” 

“ Oh, can I ? ” said Phinny eagerly. “ Say, you’re 
awful good to ask me. When you going again ? ” 

“Oh, I don’t know — to-morrow, perhaps. Could you 
go to-morrow ? ” 

“ Yes, I could,” said Phinny. “ I never went fish- 
ing in my life ! ” 

Leander was sitting on the fence watching the 
smaller boy. 

“ Say, why can’t you go this morning ? ” he asked, 
with new interest. 

“ I’ve got to weed these two rows of tomatoes, and 
Mrs. Burton wants me to take some eggs to the 
village.” 

Leander rested his pole carefully along the fence 
and jumped down on the garden side. “ I’ll help you 
weed, and Cathie can take the eggs to the village,” he 
announced. 

“ Cathie,” he called, and the little girl came running 


io8 


The Little Runaways 


across the yard from the back steps where she had 
been playing with Dinah. 

“ Don’t you wish you could see Miss Pitts to-day ? ” 
asked Leander. 

“ Oh, yes ! ” said Cathie, remembering that Miss 
Pitts had promised her another box of beads. 

“ Well, you ask Mrs. Burton if she don’t want you 
to take a basket of eggs to the store, and then you can 
go in and see Miss Pitts,” said Leander. 

“ Oh, goody,” said Cathie, “ you are real good to 
think of it, Leander,” and the little girl started back 
for the house, but Phinny overtook her. 

“ Do you want to take the eggs ? ” he asked breath- 
lessly. 

“ Oh, yes, Phinny ! ” she answered. 

“ All right ; then I’m going fishing,” he answered, 
and in a short time the boys were on their way across 
the pasture toward the brook, and Cathie was trudg- 
ing happily along the road to the village. 

The boys were not long in reaching the brook, and 
after crawling over slippery rocks and through a dense 
growth of alders they came to a place where the stream 
fiowed clearly over a stretch of white sand. Just 
above this were several rocks and dark shadowy pools 
where Leander said they were sure to get a bite. He 


*The Little Runaways 109 

had cut Phinny a pole, fixed the line and bait for him, 
and with a few whispered directions told him where 
to stand. 

In a few moments Phinny felt a sharp tug on his 
line, and with a quick pull and swing of his rod he 
had landed his first trout. 

‘‘ Gee ! Didn’t you hear him bite ? ” he called out 
to Leander. 

It was a very small trout, but the boys looked at it 
admiringly. Leander soon caught a much larger one. 
Then the boys waited patiently for another hungry 
trout to take the bait, but not a bite rewarded them, 
and after a while they made their way further up the 
stream. Sometimes they waded along the edges of 
the brook, and then the rocky banks made it advisable 
for them to keep well above the brook. Squirrels ran 
chirping up and down the trees, and Leander told 
Phinny the names of several different birds which 
now and then fluttered down near the stream. 

How happy Phinny was. It seemed to him a new 
world. He looked at Leander admiringly, and thought 
how much the older boy knew and how kind he was ; 
and when Leander said that it was time for lunch, and 
built a fire beside a great rock and cooked their fish 
over it, Phinny could hardly talk, he was so happy. 


110 


The Tittle Runaways 


Leander showed him where the blueberries were ripen- 
ing in the pastures, and as they went further up the 
stream and came to a thick growth of tall spruce and 
fir trees he told him that only a year before a bear 
had been seen near the edge of the woods eating rasp- 
berries. It was very nearly supper-time when the 
boys got home, and Mrs. Burton thought to herself 
that Phineas seemed more like a boy than she had ever 
expected to see him. They did not bring home any 
fish, but Phinny declared as he came into the pleasant 
kitchen, “ Oh, I never had such a good time in my 
life.” 

‘‘ Well, I’m real glad,” said Mrs. Burton. “ You 
must go again. Did you see any blueberries ripe 
enough to pick ? I should like a blueberry pie.” 

“ I guess I can get enough for a pie,” said Phinny. 
“ I’ll go to-morrow.” 

“ I had a nice time, too,” said Catherine. “ Miss 
Pitts gave me a pattern of a house all marked out on 
funny thin cloth, and I am going to sew beads all over 
the pattern. And I shall sew blue beads for the sky, 
and white beads for the house, and green beads for 
the blinds on the house, and in front of the house is a 
rose bush, and I shall sew pink beads for the roses.” 

Phinny looked at her thoughtfully. He wondered 


The Tittle Runaways 


111 


why Catherine should care so much about beads when 
there were brooks with fish in them, and woods where 
bears had been seen ; and when one could cook fish 
and eat them out-of-doors, why should they care about 
bead houses ? 

“ And I saw the minister,’* continued Cathie ; “ and 
I told him that Phinny had come. And he said he 
was ’sprised ! And he said that he should come over 
and see you, mother. And I told him we didn’t want 
anybody to take Phinny now ; that we was going to 
keep him. We are, ain’t we, mother ? ” 

“ Why, of course,” said Mrs. Burton, and she won- 
dered a little what the minister would have to say 
about her increasing family. “ He’s so set on foreign 
missions,” she thought, “maybe he’ll think I ought to 
do more for the heathen instead of bringing up stray 
children,” and she looked at Cathie a little anxiously. 
But Mr. Goddard was coming to see her for a different 
reason. The good man had seen Miss Pitts and had 
heard Phineas’ story, and listened to Miss Pitts’ ac- 
count of the boy’s good disposition, and as he listened 
Mr. Goddard had resolved to take Phineas himself. 
He felt that good-natured Mrs. Burton was not the 
right person to bring up a boy ; he remembered that 
her means were small, and if she had taken Cathie the 


112 


The Tittle Runaways 


minister felt that perhaps it was his duty to help her 
out of her new troubles by taking Phineas off her 
hands. 

As he walked briskly toward the pleasant cottage 
the morning after meeting Cathie, he resolved that he 
would do well by this lad who had no home, no father 
or mother. He would have him begin lessons at once, 
and recite to him every morning, then if he show'ed 
any marked ability as a student, he would have him 
fitted for the ministry. Mr. Goddard went happily 
along, his mind filled with the thought of Phineas’ 
gratitude and pleasure when he should hear of the 
good fortune which was in store for him, when sud- 
denly his feet seemed caught in a net, and with a 
smothered ejaculation he fell face foremost into the 
dusty road. 

That very morning Leander and Phinny were play- 
ing that the road was a jungle in India, and they were 
hunters in pursuit of a tiger. Leander had just read 
a book about tiger-hunting which said that native 
hunters often stretched nets across the jungle paths ; 
the tigers became entangled in these nets and were 
then easily killed by the huntsmen. So this cord 
fastened across the path beside the road was their net 
for tigers. Leander was the tiger just then, and 


T^he Ljittle Runaways 113 

Phinny, armed with a large wooden spear, was pur- 
suing him through the woods toward the net. Lean- 
der, with a noise supposed to resemble the cry of a 
panther, sprang from the woods near the path just as 
Mr. Goddard stumbled and fell ; Phinny, in full pur- 
suit, rushed after his prey, and in a moment Leander 
had fallen over Mr. Goddard’s feet, while Phinny with 
a yell of triumph jumped upon the tiger’s prostrate 
form and pinned it to the earth. 

In a moment Mr. Goddard was on his feet brushing 
the dust from his hat and coat. The boys, rushing 
from the woods at the very moment of his fall, con- 
vinced him that his downfall had been planned. He 
had always known Leander as a quiet, reliable boy, 
and the minister at once decided that this red-headed 
asylum boy, who now sat on Leander’s prostrate 
figure with a look of amazement on his thin face, was 
the one to blame. 

“ Come here, you young scamp ! ” he demanded 
instantly, giving up all idea of adopting such a young 
ruffian. ‘‘ What do you mean by laying traps across 
the highway?” But the boys had speedily come to 
their senses and were making back to the woods, with- 
out waiting for Mr. Goddard’s opinion. 

That gentleman cut the cord which had so suddenly 


114 


The Tittle Runaways 


brought him to the ground, and then continued his 
walk in a very different frame of mind. He must 
speak firmly to Mrs. Burton about this boy whom she 
had seen fit to bring into the neighborhood. He felt 
that he must use his influence to persuade her to send 
Phineas back to the asylum. 

As the minister walked on the two boys looked at 
each other. “ I guess we hadn’t ought to have put the 
cord across the path,’’ said Leander. Wasn’t he mad, 
though ? ” and the boy laughed a little at the remem- 
brance of Mr. Goddard’s wrathful face. Phinny 
laughed too, but in a moment he grew serious. 

“ Wasn’t it right to put the cord across there, 
Lin ?” he asked. 

The Jones boy shook his head. “ I guess not,” 
he answered ; “ but we can’t help it now. He ought 
•to have known that we didn’t put it there to trip him 
up. If he’d only asked us — but let’s play something 
else.” Phinny shook his head. 

“ I guess I’ll run after him and tell him about it,” 
he said. 

“ All right,” agreed Leander. ‘‘ I’ll scoot for home; 
it won’t take two of us to tell him, and he won’t be- 
lieve us, anyway.” 

Phinny dropped his spear and ran swiftly down the 


The Tittle Runaways 115 

roaa after the minister, and in a few minutes was close 
beside him. Mr. Goddard looked at him sternly. 

“ I wanted to tell you, sir, that we was playing set 
nets for tigers,” gasped Phinny, nearly out of breath. 
“We didn’t think anybody would fall over the 
strings.” Mr. Goddard stopped and regarded the boy 
closely. 

“ Do you mean to tell me that string wasn’t put 
there to trip people up ? ” he said. 

“It was put there to trip a tiger up,” explained 
Phinny. “ Leander read a book about catching tigers, 
and we were playing that he was a tiger and I was 
chasing him into the net, and just as he got there you 
fell down, sir,” said Phinny breathlessly. 

“ Where is Leander ? ” 

“ He’s gone home.” 

“ What did you run after me for ? ” continued Mr. 
Goddard. 

The boy hesitated a moment. “ I stopped to think, 
like Mrs. Burton told me to, and so I had to come. 
You see,” he continued, encouraged by Mr. Goddard’s 
smile, “ Mrs. Burton said she didn’t know just how to 
deal with boj^s, so she wanted me to do right, just as 
near as I could, and I thought it was right to tell 
you.” 


11 6 'The Tittle Runaways 

‘‘ Well,” said Mr. Goddard, “I guess you are the 
right kind of a boy. I am on my way now to Mrs. 
Burton’s to talk about you.” 

Phinny’s thin brown hand went out to meet the 
minister’s warm clasp. 

“We can walk along together, can’t we ? ” said Mr. 
Goddard. 

“ Yes, sir,” said Phinny, with a little smile. He 
felt that he liked this tall pleasant- faced man after all. 

“ My soul,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, as she saw them 
coming up the path hand-in-hand, “ if that don’t beat 
all.” 


CHAPTEK XII 


A CHANCE FOR PHINEAS 

Phinny left Mr. Goddard at the front door and ran 
around the house to the back steps where Catherine 
and Dinah were established. Catherine had brought 
out her little rocking-chair, and the small table, and on 
the table were her work-box and box of beads. Dinah, 
in a bright pink calico dress, with ruffles around the 
bottom, white cotton stockings, and low shoes made 
from a pair of old black kid gloves, sat resting against 
the side of the house. 

Cathie was busy with the bead picture. She was 
sewing the white beads on the house. 

“ When this is all done, Phinny,” she said, as the 
boy sat down on the upper step very near Dinah, 
“ Miss Pitts is going to have it framed, and under- 
neath she is going to write ‘ worked by Catherine 
Berry Burton, eight years old.’ ” 

That’s what they put on grave-stones in cemeter- 
ies,” said Phinny. “ What your name was, and how 
old.” 

“This is different,” said Cathie, rocking happily 
117 


The Liittle Runaways 


118 

back and forth. “ This is to hang up on the wall for 
my children to see, and for my mother to be proud 
of.’’ 

“I’m making something for you,” said Phineas. 
“ I’m making a trunk for you to put Dinah’s clothes 
in!” 

“ Oh, Phinny ! ” and Cathie stopped rocking, “ are 
you truly ? ” 

Phinny nodded. “ You come out in the shed and 
see,” he replied. 

Cathie put down her bead work and ran along beside 
Phinny to the shed. There was an old work-bench 
there which had belonged to Mrs. Burton’s father. 
One end of it was fitted with small drawers which held 
nails of all sizes. In one drawer were strips and pieces 
of leather. Another drawer contained screw-drivers, 
pincers, and small tools. At the other end of the 
bench were places for planes, for a small saw, gimlets, 
and a number of other tools. Mrs. Burton had told 
Phineas that he might use these tools whenever he 
pleased if he would not take them out of the shed, 
and would put them in their proper places, and the 
boy thought that of all the pleasant things that had 
happened to him nothing could be more delightful 
than to have tools to use when he wanted to. 


The Tittle Runaways 119 

He had found some pieces of board in the shed and 
had already planed them off smoothly and sawed 
them into the right size for the trunk. 

^‘I’m going to make a cover and have leather hinges 
fastened on with nice brass-headed tacks,” he ex- 
plained. “ And when fall comes I’m going to stain it 
brown with the juice of butternuts. Leander Jones is 
going to show me how. He says that you can mash 
up butternut shells and get a nice brown stain out 
of it.” 

“ My,” said Cathie, and she looked at Phinny ad- 
miringly. “Isn’t it nice that we thought to come 
here, Phinny ? We have so many lovely things here, 
don’t we ? ” 

Phinny nodded. 

“ Who is talking to my mother ? ” she continued, as 
the sound of voices came to her. 

“ Leander Jones said it was the minister.” 

“ Mr. Goddard ! ” said Cathie. “ Once I asked him 
to ’dopt you, Phinny, and he wouldn’t. But I’m real 
glad he didn’t, ain’t you ?” Phinny nodded again. 

“ I’m going blueberrying with Leander to-morrow,” 
he said. “We are going to take a lunch and stay all 
day, and get just as many as we can ; and I’m going 
to sell some of mine. Mrs. Burton said I might.” 


120 


The Little Runaways 


Just then Mrs. Burton came into the shed. “Oh, 
here you are, Phineas! Well, just step in to the sit- 
ting-room and see Mr. Goddard a minute. You can 
play with Dinah, Cathie, dear.” 

“ Yes’m,” said Cathie. But she wondered why 
Phinny was to go in and speak to Mr. Goddard. 
Was it possible that Mr. Goddard had changed his 
mind, and now wanted to adopt Phinny ? Cathie grew 
very sober at the thought, and did not care about try- 
ing on Dinah’s new dress, or even about sewing beads. 
She sat down in the little rocking-chair and forgot to 
rock, and began thinking about the asylum, and of how 
Phinny would always save his cookies to give to her 
“between meals.” She thought about the handker- 
chief he had bought her, and of the trunk for Dinah 
that he was making for her, and it seemed to her that 
everything would be spoiled if Phinny should go to 
live with Mr. Goddard. “ But Phinny won’t go,” she 
finally decided. “Miss Pitts said that my mother 
needed a boy just like Phinny, and he knows it, and 
he won’t let anybody ’dopt him.” At this decision 
Catherine began to rock a little, then her eyes wan- 
dered toward Dinah and she smiled a little, and soon 
she was busy and happy again with the bead 
work. 


The Tittle Runaways 121 

Phineas followed Mrs. Burton into the living-room, 
and when Mr. Goddard smiled at him he smiled back. 

“ I have been telling Mrs. Burton how the natives 
of India catch tigers in nets,” said Mr. Goddard. 

Then Phinny looked at Mrs. Burton a little 
anxiously, but she was smiling. 

“ Phineas is a real good boy,” she said. “ You 
ought to see how nice my garden looks, Mr. Goddard ; 
not a weed in it; and as for my kitchen wood-box, 
Phineas keeps it full without my ever reminding him. 
I don’t see how I ever got along without him,” and 
she smiled so kindly upon the boy that Phinny felt a 
little choking feeling in his throat. No one had ever 
said so many pleasant things about him before, and 
the boy began to wish there was something he could 
do to show Mrs. Burton how much he loved her. 

“ Phineas,” said Mr. Goddard, ‘‘ Mrs. Burton tells 
me that she expects you to use your own judgment 
about everything, and that you agreed to take the 
responsibility of deciding what was right for you 
to do.” 

“ Yes, sir,” replied the boy looking steadily at the 
minister. 

“ Well, my boy, do you think you can always decide 
right?” 


122 


'The Tittle Runaways 


“ Yes, sir,” said Phinny. 

“ But you ran away from the asylum, my boy, and 
then you ran away from here ; do you think that was 
right?” 

“ They didn’t want me at the asylum,” said Phinny. 
“ They used to say that they did wish somebody 
would take me. They had tried and tried to get folks 
to but nobody would, so I thought I’d try and find 
Cathie. But when I got here Mrs. Burton said she 
couldn’t adopt the whole asylum, and I remembered 
folks didn’t want boys, so I went off. I guess it’s 
right not to stay where you ain’t wanted, isn’t it ? ” 
and Phinny looked inquiringly from Mrs. Burton to 
Mr. Goddard. 

“ Hmm,” said Mr. Goddard. “ Now, my boy, how 
would you like to live with some one who could al- 
ways tell you just what was right for you to do ? 
Some one who would teach you every day, where you 
would be the only child in the family and where 
everything, in reason, would be done for your com- 
fort. In fact, how would you like to live with me ? ” 

“ To be adopted ? ” asked Phineas, “ to call you 
‘father’?” 

“ Well, no, not exactly,” responded Mr. Goddard. 
“ I would agree to give you a good home until you 


T^he Liittle Runaways 123 

were of a suitable age to earn your own living. But 
I do not think I should adopt you.” 

“ Does she want me to go ? ” he asked a little 
slowly, nodding his head toward Mrs. Burton. 

“ She feels, Phineas, that it might be better for you 
if you should come to live with me,” responded the 
minister kindly, leaning forward and putting a friendly 
hand upon the boy’s shoulder. “ I am sure I should 
like you, my lad ; don’t you think you could like me ? ” 
Phineas smiled back at him. 

“ Yes, sir,” he said ; “ but I guess I ought to stay 
here. I have the garden to look after, and the hens, 
and when winter comes there will be snow for me to 
shovel. Mrs. Burton seems to need a boy,” and he 
looked toward her as if expecting her to agree with 
him. 

“ I declare I guess I do, Mr. Goddard,” she said. 
“ As I was saying, I don’t know how I ever got along 
without Phineas. If he wants to stay with me I’m 
sure I’m glad enough to have him.” 

When Phinny heard this he felt very happy, and 
his eyes shone so that Mr. Goddard was more sure 
than ever that this was a boy who would be a credit 
to any one. He drew Phineas a little nearer toward 
him and said, “ Well, my boy, you did not catch a 


124 


The Tittle Runaways 


tiger to-day, but you have made a friend, and perhaps 
you will let me help you bring yourself up ! ” 

Phinny nodded, and Mr. Goddard bade them good_ 
bye and started for home. 

“ I never saw the beat,” said Mrs. Burton, “ the way 
people want to break up my family,” and she laughed 
a little at Phinny’s sober face. “ Miss Pitts and those 
other people wanted Cathie, and now here the min- 
ister is after you, and right in the blueberry season, 
too. Well, I must step out and see about dinner. Do 
you like young beet greens, Phineas ? ” 

“ Yes’m,” said the boy. “ I wish you were my truly 
mother,” he said, going close to her and looking up 
wistfully. 

Mrs. Burton patted him gently on the shoulder. 
“ I’m going to do just as well as I can by you, Phineas,” 
she said. And someway the boy felt disappointed. 
He wished she had said that he could pretend ” she 
was his truly mother. He went out on the steps and 
sat down near Catherine. 

“ Did the minister want to ’dopt you, Phinny ? ” 
Catherine asked. 

The boy shook his head. “ Hobody wants to adopt 
boys,” he said ; “ but he wanted to bring me up.” 

V “ Oh, Phinny ! ” 


The Tittle Runaways 125 

“Yes, he did,” continued the boy ; “but I’m going 
to stay here and bring myself up.” 

“ How can you ? ” said Cathie. 

“ You wait and see,” answered Phinn3% resolutely. 


CHAPTER XIII 


PHINNY SEES A BEAR 

Phinny had to go blueberrying alone, for Leander 
was busy and Phinny did not want to wait another 
day. Blueberries were selling for ten cents a quart 
in the village, and the boy was anxious to earn some 
money. Mrs. Burton had said that she would buy 
him shoes and stockings, and Phinny had resolved 
that he would earn the money to pay for them. 

“ I’m going to take care of myself,” he said to him- 
self, as he trudged across the pasture toward the slope 
where the blueberry bushes grew. “I’ll sell all the 
blueberries I can, and after the blueberries are gone 
raspberries come, and blackberries, and I can sell 
those ; and then I must think of other things to do, for 
I’ll be needing clothes before winter,” and he regarded 
his worn trousers anxiously. 

Phinny picked berries steadily until noon, and then 
ate the luncheon of bread and butter and doughnuts 
which he had brought with him. He had two tin 
pails ; each one held about six quarts, and one was 
now nearly full. While Phineas ate his lunch he 
126 


T^he Little Runaways 


127 


looked off toward the thick woods which grew to the 
edge of the berry pasture, and remembered what 
Leander had told him about a bear having been seen 
there, and felt a pleasant little thrill at the thought 
that bears liked blueberries, and that it was possible 
that a bear might come out of the woods at any 
minute. He went down to the brook for a drink of 
water, leaving his pails under a broad-spreading blue- 
berry bush. While he lay flat on his face drinking 
from the clear stream he heard a crushing of the un- 
dergrowth on the other side of the brook. The boy 
raised his head and looked, and coming directly toward 
the brook, walking slowly, and with its head lifted a 
little as if sniffing the air, was a big, brown shaggy 
animal. 

“A bear!” thought Phineas. He was too much 
surprised to jump up and run away, but lay very still, 
and stared directly across the brook toward the bear, 
which came steadily on, and soon poked its nose into 
the cool water not more than twenty feet above where 
Phineas lay. 

Bruin did not appear to be in a hurry ; he took a good 
drink and then leisurely made his way back through 
the underbrush. Phineas thought the bear looked fat 
and lazy. “ I’ll bet I could run the fastest,” thought 


128 


The Liittle Runaways 


the boy, but he lay very still until the last sound of 
his unexpected visitor had died away. Even then 
Phinny was a little cautious about getting on his feet, 
and he walked very softly until he was nearly back 
to where he had left his pails. 

“ Gee,” he whispered to himself, looking backward 
toward the brook, “I guess I better go home just as 
quick as I can.” Then he looked at all the ripe ber- 
ries waiting to be picked, and grew a little more 
courageous. 

“ Mrs. Burton said I must decide things myself,” he 
thought ; “ and I guess that bear won’t come up here, 
anyway not before I can get one pail full ; ” so Phinny 
went bravely at work again. Once a rabbit ran 
through the bushes very near his feet, and Phinny 
jumped, ready to run. But he filled one pail and had 
the other a third full before he started for home. On 
his way home he often looked behind him, and had he 
not been afraid of spilling the berries he would have 
run down the slope of the pasture and across the 
orchard, but he walked as rapidly as he could. 

Cathie was at her playhouse under the big tree, and 
Phineas stopped to show her how many berries he had 
picked, and to give her a big handful. He did not 
tell her about the bear. 


T^he L,ittle Runaways 


129 


“ I’ll get most a dollar for these,” he said. “ I’m 
going to take them right over to the village as soon as 
I have picked them over.” 

“ Oh, Phinny ! ” said Cathie admiringly, “ a whole 
dollar would be one hundred cents ; would you get as 
much as that ? ” 

“ Pretty near,” said Phineas. 

“ My, what will you do with it ? ” 

“ Save it for shoes,” answered the boy. “ Don’t you 
want to come down to the house now and help me pick 
’em over ? ” he continued, for the orchard seemed very 
near to the woods, and he wanted Cathie safe at home. 

“ Oh, yes,” agreed Cathie, picking up Dinah, and 
followed by Princess they went toward the house. 

“ You stay here in the shed with the berries while I 
go in and get a pan,” said Phinny. 

“ Mrs. Burton,” he said in a loud whisper, as he 
closed the door of the living-room carefully behind 
him, I’ve seen a bear ! ” 

“ My soul ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. 

“ Sh ” said Phinny. “ 1 don’t want to tell Cathie ; 

but I was getting a drink of water at the brook, and a 
brown bear came through the bushes just a little way 
from me, and I kept just as still as I could till he went 
off.” 


13 ° 


The Liittle Runaways 


“ Well ! and then you ran right straight home 
“ No, ma’am ; you see I wanted to pick all the ber- 
ries I could,” said Phinny, as if excusing himself, “ so I 
went back to the pasture and picked till I got one pail 
full and quite a lot in the other ! ” 

“ Well, if that don’t beat all,” said Mrs. Burton, 
looking at Phineas. 

“ I don’t s’pose you’ve got a gun in the house, have 
you?” questioned Phinny, still in a loud whisper. 

“ A gun ! ” Mrs. Burton’s voice expressed more fear 
than she had shown when he had told of seeing the 
bear. “ Phineas, whatever you do, don’t you ever 
touch a gun 1 I’d be more scared to see you with a 
gun in your hands than I would to see a bear coming 
after you full tilt. What we must do is to send word 
to Mr. Jones, and he’ll get some men and go after the 
poor creature. I hate to set men pursuing a poor 
dumb brute, but I shouldn’t take a mite of peace to 
have you go after berries in that pasture again.” 

It did not take Cathie and Phinny very long to pick 
over the berries. Mrs. Burton said that they would 
have an early supper so that he would have time to 
carry them to the village, and by six o’clock Phineas 
had put on his clean blouse and new straw hat and was 
ready to start. He could easily get home before dark. 


T^he Ljittle Runaways 131 

but Mrs. Burton felt a little anxious as she watched 
him out of sight, 

“ Phinny’s real smart, isn’t he, mother ? ” ques- 
tioned Cathie, who was standing close beside her. 

“ Yes, indeed he is,” agreed Mrs. Burton. 

“Wasn’t it lucky he happened to find us?” con- 
tinued the little girl. “ But you don’t want him to 
call you ‘ mother,’ do you ? ” she added, with a little 
sorrowful tone in her voice. “ I guess Phinny would 
like to be your truly ’dopted boy.” 

Mrs. Burton smiled down at the round little face 
lifted toward her own. 

“ I shouldn’t wonder,” she answered. “ But you see 
you are my ‘ truly adopted girl,’ and if Phineas stays 
with us for a few years he will be big enough to 
take care of himself, and he won’t want anybody to 
adopt him.” 

“ It’s awful nice to ‘ pretend,’ ” suggested Cathie. 
“ You and Phinny might pretend that he was your 
truly boy.” 

But Mrs. Burton shook her head. “ No,” she said, 
“ neither Phineas nor I would like that. But I have a 
nice surprise for Phineas.” 

“ Is it that bundle Miss Pitts sent over by the Jones 
boy ? ” questioned Cathie. 


132 


The Tittle Runaways 


“ That is just what it is ! ” said Mrs. Burton. “ And 
what do you suppose is in that bundle ? 

“ Clothes ! ” said Cathie, laughing. 

“ Well ! what a girl for guessing,” said Mrs. Burton, 
as if she were very much surprised. “ That is just what 
is in the bundle ; and when Phineas gets back we will 
let him undo it and show us the clothes.” 

Phineas easily disposed of the blueberries. There 
were seven quarts, and he came home with the seventy 
cents. It was the first money he had ever earned. 
On the way home he took it out of his pocket and 
counted it several times. 

“Now I am going to give you a little box to keep 
your money in,” said Mrs. Burton, when he showed 
her the seventy cents, and from a drawer in the table 
she took out a small, square, black box, and handed it 
to Phinny. There was a tiny key in the lock. 

Phineas opened it, and found that the inside was 
divided into three parts. “ I can put pennies in one 
part, and ten cent pieces in one part, and quarters in 
one part,” said the boy. 

“ So you can, and you can keep this box in the lower 
drawer of the bureau in 3^ our room. You come right 
up-stairs with me and I’ll show you,” said Mrs. Burton, 
and the two children followed her up the stairs. 


T^he h,ittle Runaways 


133 


On one of the chairs in the spare-room lay a long, 
flat bundle, neatly wrapped in brown paper. Cathie 
ran toward it exclaiming : “ Oh, Phinny, there is a 

^ surprise ’ in this. He is to open it, isn’t he, 
mother ? ” 

Mrs. Burton nodded smilingly. 

“ For me ? ” said the boy, a little doubtfully. “ I 
hope it isn’t shoes ?” 

“ No,” said Mrs. Burton, “it isn’t shoes.” 

Phineas untied the package very carefully. Eight 
on top lay two pairs of heavy long black cotton stock- 
ings. Phinny laid these on another chair. Then he 
took up a blouse of black and white striped percale, 
with a black silk neck- tie knotted under the collar. 
And under this was a pair of dark gray knee breeches, 
and a pair of black knee breeches. At the very bot- 
tom were three undervests. 

“ Don’t that, beat all ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Burton. 
“ Eliza must have worked every minute to get these 
ready. They are a present to you, Phineas, from Miss 
Pitts ; now all you need is a pair of shoes and you can 
go to Sunday-school with Cathie.” 

“ Yes’m,” said Phineas. 

“ To-morrow we will all step over to the village and 
you can thank Miss Pitts. You see Miss Pitts and I 


134 Little Runaways 

are sort of in company about you, Phineas,” explained 
Mrs. Burton. 

•‘1 want to go blueberry ing to-morrow,” said 
Phinny. 

“ My soul ! blueberrying after seeing that bear I ” 
exclaimed Mrs. Burton, forgetting all about Cathie. 
“ I couldn’t let you, Phineas ! ” 

“ But the berries ought to be picked right away,” 
urged the boy ; “ and folks from the village go there 
and I shan’t get any if I don’t go this week. I ain’t 
afraid of a bear ; I could run the fastest.” 

“Well, we’ll see,” said Mrs. Burton. “But I guess 
I shall go with you if you are set upon going. 
Here it is eight o’clock, if it’s a minute, and you chil- 
dren must go straight to bed. Come, Cathie.” 

“ Did Phinny see a bear ? ” asked the little girl, as 
she and Mrs. Burton went to her room. 

“ Yes, he did. A big brown bear,” said Mrs. Burton. 

“ What is a bear ? ” asked Cathie. “ Is it like Prin- 
cess, only brown and big ? ” 

“ Ho,” said Mrs. Burton, “ it is more like Mr. Jones’ 
big Newfoundland dog.” 

“ Why didn’t Phinny catch it and bring it home 
and have it for his dog ? ” questioned Cathie. 
“ Phinny wants a dog.” 


’The Tittle Runaways 135 

“ I guess he doesn’t want one as big as a bear,” said 
Mrs. Burton. 

“ I wish I had seen the bear,” said Cathie. “ I 
could have patted it, couldn’t I, mother ? ” 

“ No, indeed, Cathie, a bear is a wild animal, and 
doesn’t know the difference between a little girl and a 
big fat chicken. And if he saw you he might pick 
you up in his mouth and carry you off to his den.” 

“ My,” said Cathie. “ And would there be nice 
little bears in his den for me to play with ? Oh, I do 
wish I could see a bear,” and Cathie’s head was on the 
pillow and her eyes closed, before Mrs. Burton could 
answer her. 

Mrs. Burton went softly down the stairs. “ That 
bear will have to be attended to,” she said to herself. 
“ Cathie would run right after it if she should happen 
to see it, and Phineas seems to have confidence enough 
to face a dozen bears. I shall step over and tell Mr. 
Jones about it the first thing to-morrow morning.” 


CHAPTEK XIY 


A BROKEN PROMISE 

Mr. Jones did not seem much surprised when Mrs. 
Burton told him about the bear. 

“ Don’t you be at all afraid,” he said ; “ almost 
every summer a bear is seen in the berry pastures near 
here, but it never comes down near the houses. This 
is the season when they find all they want to eat in 
the woods, and I do not believe they would bother to 
chase a boy.” 

“ But I am afraid Cathie would chase the bear if she 
happened to see it. She seems to think that it would 
be a fine thing to have a family of little bears to play 
with.” 

Mr. Jones laughed. “ Tell her not to go up toward 
the pastures,” he said. “ There’s no danger of Cathie 
seeing a bear ; and like as not the creature is miles 
away before this time, and will not be seen in this 
vicinity before another season.” 

“ But Phinny wants to go right back to that berry 
pasture this morning ! ” objected Mrs. Burton. 

“ Leander can go with him,” said Mr. Jones. “ He 
can take my rifle, and they’ll be safe enough.” 

136 


The Tittle Runaways 


137 


“ Mr. Jones ! To go and face a bear is danger 
enough, but to go and face a bear and take a gun 
along is tempting Providence ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Bur- 
ton. “ I couldn’t agree to that. If you think it safe 
for Leander and Phineas to go after blueberries, I 
won’t say a word against it, but I can’t consent to 
their taking a gun ! ” 

Mr. Jones explained that Leander had been taught 
to be very careful in handling a gun, that he was a 
good shot, and that she need have no fear of an 
accident, and finally Mrs. Burton agreed that Leander 
could take his father’s rifle when he and Phineas went 
berrying. 

When she returned home Phinny had started the 
fire, and had set the table for breakfast. 

have been over and told Mr. Jones about that 
bear, Phineas,” she said. “ And now I want you to 
promise me something.” 

“ Yes’m ! ” 

“ Leander J ones is going with you after blueberries, 
and he is going to take his father’s gun.” 

“ Gee,” said Phinny, delightedly. 

“ And I want you to promise me that you won’t 
touch that gun, no matter what happens.” 

“ I guess Len wouldn’t let me.” 


•38 


The Tittle Runaways 


“It doesn’t make any difference about that, I 
don’t want you to touch it, and I want you to promise 
me that you won’t.” 

“ All right, I won’t touch it, if you don’t want me 
to,” said Phineas. 

They had hardly finished breakfast when Leander 
appeared. He had a basket, and he carried his fa- 
ther’s rifle. Phinny looked at him admiringly. 

“ Don’t come in, Leander,” called Mrs. Burton ; 
“ and be just as careful as you can with that gun.” 

“ Yes’m,” answered Leander, smilingly. Phinny 
was soon ready, and the boys started off across the 
orchard. 

“ Will they catch a bear ? ” inquired Cathie. 

“ Catch a bear ! ” replied Mrs. Burton. “ Ho, in- 
deed, probably there isn’t a bear within ten miles. I 
guess all the danger they’ll see is what they take with 
them. I do wish,” concluded Mrs. Burton firmly, 
“ that guns had never been invented.” 

On the way to the berry pasture Leander told all 
about the rifle. Phinny had never seen one be- 
fore. 

“ You take aim just this way,” explained Leander, 
and offered to let Phineas take the rifle in his own 
hands, but Phineas refused. 


'The Tittle Runaways 139 

“ Do you suppose we’ll see the bear to-day ? ” ques- 
tioned Leander. 

“ Could you shoot it ? ” responded Phinny. 

“ I guess I could, if it wasn’t too far away. I 
should aim right at its eyes,” said Leander. 

“ I ’most hope it will come out near to us,” said 
Phinny. 

Leander shook his head. 

“ I don’t know about that,” he said. “ If you 
wound a bear it’s a mighty ugly customer.” 

“ But we could run,” said Phinny. 

“ So can a bear,” responded Leander. “ And if I 
fired at it and hurt it, even if we got safe away, it 
would be pretty hard on the bear to suffer. I should 
want to kill it if I fired at it.” 

“ Of course,” agreed Phinny, soberly. 

When they reached the berry bushes Leander care- 
fully placed his gun on a broad high rook near at hand. 
He told about shooting a number of rabbits the year 
before, and Phinny listened eagerly. A new ambition 
had come into his thoughts, to have a gun of his own. 
But he remembered that there were shoes to buy, and, 
later on, he would need a coat, so he decided not to 
think about the gun. 

“ I wish I had brought my camera,” said Leander, 


140 


The Tittle Runaways 


as the two boys picked industriously. “ You see we 
might get a sight of the bear and I might get a picture 
of it.” 

“ Is a camera a thing that takes pictures ? ” 

“ Didn’t you ever see a camera ? ” asked Leander. 
It seemed to him that an asylum must be a very un- 
happy place to live if the boys never saw guns or 
cameras and always had to play in a yard. 

I’ll take a picture of you, Phinny,” he added ; 
“and I’ll show you just how it is done, and you can 
take a photograph of Cathie and Princess if you 
want to.” 

“ All right,” said Phineas, thinking to himself that 
Leander was the kindest boy in the world, and resolv- 
ing to be just like him when he grew up. 

“ I’m awful thirsty,” said Leander. “ Guess I’ll go 
down to the brook and get a drink,” and off he 
started. Phinny’s thoughts were full of the wonders 
of a camera. How many new things he was learning, 
he thought, and how fine it was to stay with Mrs. 
Burton and have all out-of-doors to play and work in. 

He had just gathered all the berries on the bushes 
around him, and was turning toward another bunch, 
close beside the flat rock where Leander’s rifle lay. 
As he turned his attention was attracted by a flutter 


T'he Liittle Runaways 141 

of white down the slope toward the lower pasture. 
He looked at it intently for a moment. 

“ I do believe that’s Cathie,” he said aloud, and 
watched until the little figure came out in full sight. 
It was Cathie. Her leghorn hat flopped about her 
face, in one hand she carried a small basket ; the 
other arm clasped Dinah closely. As she came nearer 
she stopped every few steps and looked about and 
called : “ Phinny, Phinny.” 

As soon as the boy saw her he jumped up on the 
rocks and waved his arm. 

“ Eight up here, Cathie,” he called. 

She waved the basket at him in response and began 
to run toward him. Phinny stood watching her, and 
as he looked he saw something else which sent a shiver 
of fear all over him. Between Cathie and Phinny, 
coming up the slope from the brook, was the big 
brown bear. Evidently the creature had seen the little 
girl, but Phinny’s shout had attracted its attention 
and its head was now turned toward the boy. Many 
things flashed through the boy’s mind in a second. He 
remembered that Mrs. Burton had told him that he 
must always decide quickly — must think for himself. 
Cathie was running ; if he could not stop her she 
would come directly upon the bear. 


142 


T'he L,ittle Runaways 


“ Cathie,” he called, “ stop ! Don’t come another 
step. Stand still ! ” For he realized that if the child 
turned to run the bear would overtake her in a mo- 
ment. 

Cathie stopped short, and the bear, as if surprised, 
also stopped, with its head lifted and turned toward the 
rock where Phineas stood. 

Phinny stooped and picked up the rifle. He remem- 
bered that Leander was at the brook. If the bear 
should turn now Leander would be in peril. 

“Aim at his eyes,” he remembered and clumsily 
lifted the gun and pointed it toward the bear. Twice 
the boy fired, and then the gun almost fell from his 
hands. The bear had fallen. It was not dead; 
Phinny could see the brown mass move convulsively. 
But as he watched it all movement ceased. In a mo- 
ment Leander came running toward the rock. The 
sound of the rifle shots had frightened him. What 
was Phinny doing with the gun ? 

“What did you touch that gun for?” he called 
angrily, and seeing Cathie standing not far off, he 
called out again, “ I’ll bet you thought Cathie was a 
bear ! Didn’t Mrs. Burton tell you not to touch that 
gun, and didn’t you promise her not to ! Is that the 
way you keep your word ? ” 


143 


T^he Runaways 

Leander was close to the rock now. “ Come on, 
Cathie,” he called. “Phinny won’t shoot again. 
Don’t be frightened.” 

“ Where is the bear ? ” called the little girl, pointing 
down the slope. Leander’s eyes followed her gesture. 
What was that brown thing lying there ? 

“ I believe there is a bear there,” said Leander. 
“Give me the gun, Phinny.” 

“ I guess it’s dead,” said Phinny, in a trembling voice. 

“Was that what you fired at? ’’asked Leander. 
“ Whew ! ” 

“I had to,” whispered his friend, sitting down on the 
rock. “ It was coming right toward Cathie, and if it 
went back it would go right toward you.” 

Cathie had reached the rock and Leander lifted her 
up beside Phinny. She smiled at the boys happily. 
“ Phinny scared the bear,” she remarked. 

The children stayed quietly on the rock for what 
seemed a very long time to Cathie, but Leander said 
that they must make sure that the bear was dead, as a 
wounded bear was a very savage beast. 

“You and Cathie start for home now,” Leander at 
last suggested, “ and tell my father about it, and get 
him to come right up, and I’ll stay here and watch so’s 
to be sure the bear really can’t go off.” 


144 L/ittle Runaways 

“ All right,” said Phinny, and he and Cathie, with 
many backward looks, started toward home. Phinny 
could not walk very fast, and he wondered what made 
him feel so queerly. He did not pay much attention 
to Cathie’s remarks until they reached the orchard. 

“ What did you come up in the berry pasture for, 
Cathie ?” he asked. 

“To find you, Phinny.” 

“ Did Mrs. Burton know it ? ” 

Cathie shook her head. “ I didn’t tell my mother,” 
she said. “ I just walked across the field and up into 
the pasture and hollered ! ” 

“Well,” said Phineas, stopping and looking at her, 
“don’t you ever go anywhere again, Catherine Berry 
Burton, unless you go and ask your mother if you can. 
You most got eaten up by a bear, you did, coming 
way up there alone. And you scared me most to 
death, and you made me break my promise to Mrs. 
Burton ! ” 

“What promise?” asked Cathie anxiously. 

“Not to touch that gun!” Cathie drew a long 
breath. 

“Oh,” she said. “Well, I guess it was real lucky 
I thought to come, Phinny Trot, for if I hadn’t 
you wouldn’t have seen the bear, and like as not it 


T^he Little Runaways 145 

would have jumped right on you and eaten you up ! ” 
and Cathie looked at him triumphantly. The boy 
made no answer. 

“ Do you s’pose there are any little bears in the pas- 
ture that we could catch ? ” she continued. 

“ No,” answered Phinny ; “ and you remember what 
I tell you, don’t you ever go anywhere again unless 
you ask Mrs. Burton.” 

“ I guess I won’t,” said Cathie. 

He left Cathie at the back door and, without wait- 
ing— to tell^^rs. Burton of what had happened, ran 
across the field to Mr. Jones’. Mr. Jones listened in 
astonishment, and calling to his hired man told him 
that Phinny had shot a bear. 

“ What are you going to do with it ? ” asked Mr. 
Jones as they hurried up to where Leander was stand- 
ing guard. 

“ I don’t know,” said Phinny. 

‘‘Well,” said Mr. Jones, “there’s a good deal of 
value in a bear at this season. They are apt to be fat 
and in good condition ; bear’s steak is good eating, and 
their skin is of value. I’ll buy your bear, Phinny.” 

“ Is it my bear ? ” asked Phinny. 

“ Of course it is. You shot it, and you showed a 
good deal of the right sort of courage in shooting just 


146 


T^he Little Runaways 


when you did,” said Mr. Jones. “ I’ll give you twenty 
dollars for your bear.” Phinny’s eyes opened in 
amazement. The nervous trembling left him. 
Twenty dollars ! 

“ All right, sir,” he said. 

Leander began to holloa to them as soon as they^ 
came in sight. 

“ The bear is dead fast enough,” he called. “ Say, 
wasn’t that a great shot of Phinny’s, father ! ” 

“ I should say it was,” replied Mr. J ones. “ I guess 
Phinny will have to invest in a gun of his own.” 


CHAPTER XV 

MISS PITTS’ PICNIC 

\0n the river road, a short distance beyond Mrs. 
Burton’s, was a place called Beech Point. The point 
of land extended into the river and several large beech 
lirees grew there. It was just a pleasant walk across 
the fields from Mrs. Burton’s. 

Every year it had been Miss Pitts’ custom to put up 
a basket of lunch, and, after i)ersuading Mrs. Burton 
that she really needed a day’s outing, the two would 
walk down to the point and stay the greater part of 
the day. This year Miss Pitts had decided to ask the 
Jones family and Mr. Goddard to join them. “It will 
be more pleasant for Cathie and Phineas,” she said, in 
telling Mrs. Burton of her plan. The day decided on 
was the very next day after Phineas’ adventure with 
the bear, and as the little party walked toward the 
point Phineas kept close beside Mr. Goddard, and was 
unusually quiet, although Len and Mr. Jones had a 
good deal to say in regard to the good shot and 
Phineas’ courage. 

Len had a boat at Beech Point. It was one that he 

147 


148 


"The L,ittle Runaways 


had made himself, with some little assistance from his 
father. It was made of an old cedar log. Len had 
hollowed out the log as much as he could with an axe 
and a hatchet, then he had made a fire in it and burned 
it out until only a shell remained. He had made a 
very good paddle of ash, and although it was a rough 
looking boat, and easily upset, Len was very proud of 
it and had promised Phineas that they would go fish- 
ing in it. 

“ To-day will be a fine time to go,” Len said, when 
the party had reached the shade of the beech trees and 
the two boys had gone down to the shore to look at 
the boat. “ I dug some worms this morning for bait,” 
he continued, displaying a tin mustard box with holes 
punched in the cover. 

“ What is ‘ bait 7 ” asked Cathie, who had kept close 
to Phineas. 

Len looked at her in surprise. “ Didn’t you ever go 
fishing ? ” he asked. 

“ Ho,” said Cathie. “ Are you going to take me 
out in that nice boat ? ” 

Len looked pleased at the praise of his boat, but 
shook his head. 

“ Bait is what you catch fish with,” he explained, 
in answer to her first question. 


T^he l^ittle Runaways 149 

While the children were admiring the boat the elder 
members of the part}’’ were preparing luncheon, and 
Cathie, after watching the boys start out in the boat, 
ran up the bank and tried to help Miss Pitts spread 
out the sandwiches, and cakes, and other goodies from 
the baskets. Luncheon was all ready when a call 
from Len made them all look toward the river. The 
boys were coming up the bank and Phineas was hold- 
ing a long, squirming fish in his hand. 

“ Oh, it’s a snake ! ” called out Miss Pitts. 

“Ko, it’s an eel,” said Phinny ; “and I caught it. 
It pulled real hard.” 

Mr. Goddard examined the fish curiously. “ It’s a 
good fat one,” he said. “ And if you’ll wait a little 
for lunch I’ll skin it and broil it over the fire.” 

They all decided to wait for the eel, so Mr. Goddard 
and the boys went back to the shore to prepare it. 
Phineas and Len were sure that eel would be much 
better eating than sandwiches. 

“ You wouldn’t think that this was a salt-water 
fish, would you, boys ? ” said Mr. Goddard ; “ but 
it is. Perhaps this very fish has journeyed hun- 
dreds of miles. It probably came up the Kennebec 
Piver from Bath, and found its way into Sandy 
Kiver last spring. Then it kept on, perhaps up to 


150 The Tittle Runaways 

East Pond, where it has fed all summer, and was on 
its way back to the sea when Phineas caught it.” 

After skinning the eel Mr. Goddard cut it in pieces 
about three inches long, and broiled them by fastening 
them on a stick suspended over the fire which the boys 
had made. Len brought some pieces of clean birch- 
bark for plates, and carried the fish up to where the 
luncheon was spread. 

They all tasted of it except Miss Pitts, who said that 
she knew exactly how it tasted. 

“ What does it taste like ? ” asked Phineas. 

“ It tastes just as the muddy bottom of a lake 
smells,” said Miss Pitts. ‘‘ And any one who wants 
my portion can have it.” 

But the fish was white and firm and the boys said 
it was the best part of the luncheon. 

‘‘ I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed a summer as 
much as I have this one,” said Mrs. Burton, as they 
all sat beneath the big trees and looked down the 
river. “ I’ve been real busy, but it seems to me as if 
I had taken more comfort than usual.” 

Miss Pitts nodded. “ Well, I was thinking of that 
very thing,” she said, looking toward Cathie and 
Phineas, whom Len was showing how to make birch- 
bark baskets ; “ and I believe it’s because of those 


T'he Little Runaways 151 

children. If I had known there were children like 
those in orphan asylums I should have picked one out 
years ago.” 

“Well, I didn’t have that trouble,” said Mrs. Bur. 
ton. “ Cathie and Phineas seemed to pick me out ; 
but I don’t know as I could have suited myself any 
better, although I must say that I’m considerably 
worried since Phineas fired off the gun and killed the 
bear. I suppose the next thing is that he’ll want a 
gun of his own, and to go chasing off in the woods 
with the Jones boy,” and Mrs. Burton took off her 
glasses and wiped them vigorously. 

“ I should be more afraid of this boat of Len’s,” said 
Miss Pitts. “ It will tip over if you look at it.” 

“ I don’t worry about that,” replied Mrs. Burton. 
“ I guess Phineas could walk ashore if they did get 
upset ; the river’s real shallow along here.” 

While their elders were talking the children had 
gone back to the shore. “ I never was in a boat in my 
life,” said Cathie, looking longingly toward the river. 

“ Couldn’t we take her out a little way, Len ? ” 
asked Phineas. “ She would sit just as still, wouldn’t 
you, Cathie ? ” 

Cathie nodded. 

“ I’d just as soon take her,” said Len. “ You sit in 


152 


The Tittle Runaways 


the bow, Phin, to balance the boat, and Cathie in the 
stern, and I’ll paddle.” 

“ Oh,” said Cathie, as the boys pushed the boat into 
the water and helped her in. “ I think this is the 
nicest part of the whole picnic, don’t you, Phinny ? I 
think it’s nicer than killing a great big bear.” The 
boys both laughed, and cautioning her to sit very 
quietly Len paddled out into the stream. The water 
was shallow and there was but little current ; Cathie 
felt that it was very hard to have to sit so still when 
the water was rippling so quietly and she longed to 
put her hand in it. But all would have gone well had 
not a long, silvery strip of birch-bark come floating 
down the stream close to the canoe. “ Oh ! ” ex- 
claimed the little girl, and, forgetting all about Pen’s 
cautions to sit perfectly quiet, she reached quickly to- 
ward the floating bark. 

The boat lurched with her motion and in an instant 
had turned over, spilling the children out into the 
water. Cathie’s shrieks of fright made Len laugh, 
even in his vexation at having the boat upset. 

He picked her out of the water and waded quickly 
ashore with her, setting her down somewhat forcibly 
on the soft grass. Her cries had brought all the others 
to the shore, and for a few minutes Miss Pitts and 


T’he Little Runaways 


153 


Mrs. Burton were so busy wringing out Catherine’s 
wet skirts and endeavoring to quiet her that no 
thought was given to the boat. 

“ My soul ! ” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, looking anx- 
iously toward the river. “Where is Phineas?” 

“Why, I supposed he waded right ashore,” an- 
swered Len. “ Cathie made such a fuss that I forgot 
all about the boat and everything else.” 

“ The boat must have drifted beyond the point,” 
said Mr. Jones. “ Perhaps Phineas waded ashore 
further down.” The men started along the shore 
calling, “ Phineas, Phineas,” and in a few moments 
their anxiety was relieved by hearing an answering 
call, and as they reached the other side of the point 
they saw the canoe, and Phinny paddling it bravely 
up the stream. 

“ I knew Len wouldn’t want his boat to drift dow’n 
stream,” he said, as Mr. Goddard helped him pull it 
ashore. 

“ I guess you’d better run for home, Phineas,” said 
Mr. Goddard, “ and get off those wet clothes.” 

“ Well,” exclaimed Mrs. Burton, as Phinny ’s drip- 
ping figure came in sight, “ if this don’t beat all. 
What with killing a bear one day and getting spilled 
into the river the next, it looks to me as if bringing 


154 


The Tittle Runaways 


up a boy was almost more than I was equal to.” 
Miss Pitts was already hurrying Cathie toward home, 
and Mrs. Burton and Phineas followed them. 

“ Didn’t you want me to go 'out in the boat ? ” 
asked Phinny, looking up wistfully at Mrs. Burton. 

“ I guess there wasn’t any harm in going out in 
the boat, Phineas,” she replied. “But why didn’t 
you think about yourself and come straight ashore ? 
I was real worried about you. Pen’s boat wasn’t 
of any account if you only got ashore safely.” 

A smile came over the boy’s face. “If you 
don’t care I don’t mind about anything else,” he 
said, “ only I thought I ought to save Pen’s boat 
because I asked him to take us out.” 

Mrs. Burton smiled back at the boy. 

“ I guess you plan to do about right, don’t you, 
Phineas?” she said. “Now you run just as fast as 
you can, so you won’t get a chill. You’re as wet as 
that eel.” 


CHAPTER XYI 


A DAY OF TROUBLE 

The day after the picnic Miss Pitts came over to 
see how the children were after their wetting. 

“ What did Phineas say when he told you about 
killing that bear ? ” she asked, after Mrs. Burton had 
. told her that Cathie and Phineas were none the worse 
for their drop into the river. 

“He hasn’t told me. The Jones family have all 
taken a turn in describing the scene, saying Phineas 
saved Cathie’s life, and Leander’s life, and his own 
life, and most everybody’s except the bear’s, but Phin- 
eas acts ashamed about it,” and a little smile came 
to Mrs. Burton’s pleasant face. 

“ Ashamed ! The idea ! I should think he’d be 
proud of it. I tell you what, Mrs. Burton, there are 
not many boys that would have presence of mind 
enough to decide right off in a second what to do, 
or courage enough to do it, with a big bear looming 
right up in front of them ! ” 

“ I told Phineas the first day he was here that I 
wanted he should decide things right off, and that 
he’d have to take a hand in bringing himself up, and 

155 


156 


The Tittle Runaways 


he seems to be doing real well,” rejoined Mrs. Burton ; 
“ but he has disobeyed me once and broken his prom- 
ise to me.” 

“ What about ? ” 

“ Well, I told him not to touch Leander’s gun, no 
matter what happened, and he said he wouldn’t.” 

“ Oh,” Miss Pitts seemed greatly relieved at hearing 
this. “I guess he did just as you would have him,” 
she said. 

“ Yes, I guess he did, Eliza. He saw what there was 
to do and he did it, but now that it’s all over he is re- 
membering about his promise to me. He is dreadful 
conscientious, Phineas is.” 

“ He is a remarkable boy,” said Miss Pitts firmly. 
“ If I had realized just what kind of a boy Phineas 
was,” she continued, “ when Cathie was asking me to 
adopt him, I guess I should have decided differently.” 

Mrs. Burton rocked comfortably back and forth, but 
made no response. 

“Mr. Goddard was speaking to me about Phineas 
this morning,” went on Miss Pitts. “ He said that he 
should be glad to take him, but that the boy seemed 
to think that he ought to stay with you and Cathie.” 

Mrs. Burton smiled again. “Mr. Goddard didn’t 
want to adopt Phineas,” she said. 


'The Tittle Runaways 


'51 


“Not then, he didn’t,” rejoined Miss Pitts. 

Mrs. Burton stopped rocking. “ My soul, Eliza ! 
What do you mean ? ” she asked. 

“ I mean that Mr. Goddard has pretty near made up 
his mind to adopt Phineas, to take out legal papers 
and give him his name.’’ 

“ Hasn’t he got to get my consent, and Phinny’s, 
too ? ” questioned Mrs. Burton. 

“ I don’t know a thing about the law side of it,” re- 
plied Miss Pitts ; “ but I do know that Mr. Goddard 
could do real well by Phineas. He’s a man of educa- 
tion, and he’d bring him up well, send him to college, 
like as not, and perhaps make a minister of him. And 
it seems to me, being as you and I formed a sort of 
partnership about bringing the boy up, that I ought to 
tell you about what a good chance there is waiting 
for him.” 

‘‘Yes,” said Mrs. Burton, beginning to rock, “it 
does sound well, and of course I know that Mr. God- 
dard would do well by Phineas.” 

“ I recall your saying that you didn’t know as you 
could really afford to bring Cathie up,” said Miss 
Pitts. “ Are her adoption papers signed yet ? ” 

Miss Burton shook her head. 

“ Well, now, Mrs. Burton, I know just how you feel 


1S8 


The Tittle Runaways 


about Cathie, and how she feels about you, but she’s 
so young she’d learn to love anybody who was kind to 
her, and I’m going to say what I said before, that I’ll 
take Cathie right off your hands and adopt her and 
bring her up, and Mr. Goddard will do the same by 
Phineas, and then you won’t have any more anxiety 
about either of them, and you can settle right back 
into your old ways and be as happy as can be ! ” and 
Miss Pitts smiled at her friend. 

“ If ever I see the beat,” murmured Mrs. Burton. 

“You needn’t decide right now,” continued Miss 
Pitts ; “ but you talk it over with the children and see 
what they have to say about it. Mr. Goddard will 
know just how to deal with a boy, about guns, you 
know, and things that would trouble you.” 

“ Phineas seems to know how to deal with those 
things himself,” said Mrs. Burton. 

“ So he does ! Now I’m sure you understand that I 
want to do right, don’t you, Mrs. Burton, and I want 
to help you carry your burdens, just as a friend 
should.” 

Mrs. Burton nodded. “Not that I feel those chil- 
dren to be a burden, Eliza, and I guess I might as well 
say right now that I can’t give up Cathie, there’s no 
use in talking about it ; I shall keep Cathie ; and as for 


T^he Little Runaways 159 

those adoption papers, I’ll have them signed right 
off.” 

Miss Pitts’ hopeful smile faded. “Well, I will own 
I’m disappointed,” she said. “ I’d like nothing better 
than to have Cathie live with me, but you’re the one 
to say. But so far as Phineas goes he’s dreadful 
anxious to be adopted. Cathie says he is, and of 
course he realizes that you are just keeping him out of 
pity, not for love, and if he knows that Mr. Goddard 
will really adopt him as his son, Phinny will probably 
want to go and live with him.” 

“ Pll tell him,” said Mrs. Burton. 

Miss Pitts went out the side door and across the yard 
to the garden. Both the children smiled when they 
saw her coming. 

“ You’d better step up to the house, Phineas,” she 
said. “ Mrs. Burton wants to talk with you. She is 
real pleased to think you were so brave,” she added. 

“ I’ll walk down to the gate with you,” said Cathie, 
as Phineas hurried toward the house. 

Whatever Mrs. Burton had to say did not take much 
time, for in a few minutes he came running back to 
the garden with a cooky in his hand and a smile on his 
face. Mrs. Burton followed him as far as the door 
and watched him with affectionate pride. 


i6o 


"The Little Runaways 


“ I guess I’ll step down cellar and bring up a jar of 
those preserved pears,” she said aloud as she turned 
away from the door. 

Mrs. Burton’s cellar stairs had often been a trouble 
to her. They were only a rough set of steps, and one 
or two were not very firmly set. Usually Mrs. Burton 
remembered the weak places, but this afternoon her 
mind was full of the happenings of the day, of 
Phinny’s courage, and of Mr. Goddard’s interest in the 
boy. She had called Phinny in, not to tell him about 
Mr. Goddard, but to tell him that she understood all 
about his feeling in regard to the gun. “Some 
promises are better broken than kept, Phineas,” she 
had said ; “ and I’m glad that you have mind enough 
to know it.” 

“ I didn’t think about my promise.” 

“ Of course you didn’t ! It wasn’t any time to re- 
member it,” Mrs. Burton had assured him. 

She was thinking of this conversation as she went 
down the rickety stairs more briskly than usual. She 
had nearly reached the bottom when a loose step tilted 
and, though Mrs. Burton made a desperate effort to 
regain her balance, she lurched forward and fell in a 
heap on the cellar fioor. When she tried to stand she 
found that she could not. Her right ankle would not 


T*he l^itth Runaways i6i 

support her, and was evidently badly sprained. 
Slowly she dragged herself up the stairs to the 
kitchen. 

“ Phineas, Phineas ! ” she called. The boy heard 
her and came running in. 

“ Oh, what is it ? ” he exclaimed, seeing her sitting 
in the cellar- way and leaning against the kitchen door. 

“ I guess I’ve sprained my ankle,” groaned Mrs. 
Burton. 

“ Those cellar stairs ! ” said Phineas fiercely. “ Shall 
I run right after the doctor ? ” 

“Doctor? well I guess not; you just shove that big 
rocking-chair over here.” 

Phineas obeyed, and with his help Mrs. Burton 
managed to get into it. He then placed another chair 
in front of her and lifted her feet so that they rested 
upon it. 

“ You start up the kitchen fire, Phinny, and heat a 
kettle of water. As soon as it’s hot you bring my 
foot-tub out of my bedroom and I’ll get my foot into 
hot water and have you bathe it for me. This isn’t 
the first sprained ankle I’ve had to deal with. You 
unlace that right shoe first. Oh, dear ! ” and with a 
groan of pain Mrs. Burton leaned back in the big 
chair. 


i 62 


Ti'he Liule Runaways 


“ I’ll fix those stairs to-morrow,” said Phinny, wip- 
ing his eyes on the sleeve of his blouse. 

“Never mind about the stairs, you get some hot 
water just as quick as you can,” said Mrs. Burton. 

In a few minutes the hot water was ready and 
Phineas began to bathe the sprained ankle. 

“ You keep the teakettle full, Phinny,” directed Mrs. 
Burton; “and you remember what I say, that there’s 
nothing will help a sprained ankle like hot water.” 

For over an hour Mrs. Burton continued the hot ap- 
plications, then under her directions the ankle and foot 
were bandaged. 

“ After supper we’ll deal with it again,” she said, 
cheerfully. “ I can see that it isn’t going to be a bad 
sprain ; but you will have to get supper, Phineas ; it’s 
near sunset now.” 

Cathie’s bright face grew very sober when she came 
running in and saw Mrs. Burton sitting in one chair 
with her feet resting in another. 

“ Oh ! but wasn’t it lucky that Phinny was right 
here!” she said. “Just think — if he hadn’t been 
here ! ” 

“ I guess Phineas has had a pretty active day,” re- 
joined Mrs. Burton. “ Now you must help him get 
supper.” 


T'he Liittle Runaways 


163 


“ Oh, yes, we can pretend that we are grown up, 
can’t we, Phinny ; and that you are my truly brother.” 

Phineas moved the kitchen table up beside Mrs. Bur- 
ton’s rocking-chair, and Cathie spread the white table- 
cloth over it, and the two children soon had supper 
ready. 

“ Now, Cathie, you clear away the tea things and 
Phineas will have to bring me more hot water for this 
ankle of mine.” For another hour Mrs. Burton and 
Phineas took turns in bathing the ankle, then, with 
the children’s help, and with a big cane which had 
belonged to her father, Mrs. Burton hobbled into her 
bedroom, and to bed. 

“ I guess, Phineas, you can just bring down a pillow 
and blanket and sleep on the lounge in the sitting- 
room,” she said. “ If this ankle gets to aching in the 
night I’ll have to have more hot water.” 

Cathie wanted to sleep down-stairs also, and curling 
up beside her mother on the wide bed, was soon fast 
asleep. 

But Phineas lay on the lounge under his blanket 
and thought about the bear. “ I guess I don’t want 
ever to see a bear again,” he decided. Then he re- 
membered the twenty dollars Mr. Jones had promised 
him. “ I’ll give that to Mrs. Burton,” he thought. “I 


164 'The Tittle Runaways 

guess if I had a truly mother she would be just like 
Mrs. Burton.” He thought about the rickety stairs, 
and resolved to work on them the very next day. “ I 
must help her all 1 can, even if I ain’t adopted,” he 
resolved. 


CHAPTER XYII 


MRS. BURTON HEARS ABOUT RELATIVES 

The blueberry season was over before Mrs. Burton’s 
ankle was strong enough for her to do the usual work 
of the house. The children had taken the best of care 
of her, and she declared to Miss Pitts that Phineas was 
as good as a girl. 

“ What I should have done without him I don’t 
know,” she said. ‘‘ The way he would think of things 
to do to save me steps, and does now, for that matter. 
And he fixed those cellar stairs as well as a man could 
have done it, and he is as watchful of me now as if I 
was his own mother.” 

“ I suppose he will be going to school soon,” rejoined 
Miss Pitts. “ Two weeks from Monday school be- 
gins.” 

“ I suppose so,” agreed Mrs. Burton with a sigh. 
“ And Eliza, if my hay money doesn’t come in I shall 
have to get in debt to get Phineas shoes. Someway 
my money hasn’t held out as well as usual.” 

‘‘ Ho wonder ! ” said Miss Pitts. “ You have spent a 


i66 


‘The Tittle Runaways 


sight of money on Cathie; she has had three muslin 
dresses for one thing.” 

“ She deserves everything I can do for her,” said 
Mrs. Burton. “She is just as thoughtful as she can 
be. Why, she has begun to knit Phineas a pair of 
mittens already ! ” 

“Has she?” said Miss Pitts, admiringly. “Well, 
now don’t you worry about shoes for Pbineas ; he’ll 
find a way to get his own shoes.” 

Mrs. Burton shook her head. “ He hasn’t had a 
chance to pick any berries to sell since he killed the 
bear. You see he has had to wait and tend on me, 
and with the garden to look after and the chores to do 
he has been kept busy.” 

“ Who had the bear ? ” inquired Miss Pitts. 

“ Well, Eliza, Mr. Jones took possession of the ani- 
mal. Of course it was killed in his pasture, and it 
was his gun that Phineas fired, but don’t it look to 
you as if that bear, or the worth of it, belonged to 
Phineas ? ” 

“ Certain ! ” replied Miss Pitts. “ Of course it does. 
Didn’t Mr. Jones make some sort of an agreement 
with Phineas about it ? ” 

“ If he has Phineas hasn’t mentioned it to me,” said 
Mrs. Burton. 


The Tittle Runaways 


167 


“ I suppose Mr. Goddard has been over and told you 
about his trip to Boston last week and going to that 
asylum, hasn’t he ? ” 

“ My soul, no ! What sent him journeying off to 
that asylum, I should like to know ? ” 

“ Well, he said that, feeling the interest he did in 
Phineas, he wanted to find out what kind of folks he 
sprung from ; so as he was in Boston he went to the 
asylum and had a talk with Miss Gilman and looked 
over the records and found out all about Phinny. I 
suppose you asked all about Cathie, didn’t you ? ” 

“Yes,” nodded Mrs. Burton. “Poor child, there 
wasn’t much to tell. Her father and mother died 
when she was a little baby, and there wasn’t anybody 
to look after her.” 

“Well, it wasn’t so with Phineas,” said Miss Pitts. 
“ There were folks whose duty it was to come right 
forward and take Phineas and do well by him. His 
father died first, it seems, and then when Phinny was 
about two years old his poor mother was taken. Miss 
Gilman said that the asylum folks knew all about her, 
that she came from some place near Portland, Maine, 
and that her maiden name was Higgins.” 

“ My soul,” said Mrs. Burton softly. 

“Well, the Higginses were written to and sent for, 


i68 


The Tittle Runaways 


and not one of them would lift a hand for the poor 
child. They left him to the asylum folks. Mr. God- 
dard said that the records proved that Phineas’ father 
and mother both were good people. He seemed 
real pleased about it.” 

“What for?” asked Mrs. Burton. 

“Well, you know that idea of adopting Phinny 
makes Mr. Goddard want to find out all he can about 
him.” 

“ Mr. Goddard didn’t happen to mention if Phineas’ 
mother’s name was Amanda, did he ? ” asked Mrs. 
Burton. 

“Why, Mrs. Burton, you never told me that you 
knew about Phinny ’s family ! Yes, he did say that 
her name was Amanda.” 

“ Amanda Higgins, daughter of James and Abitha 
Higgins of Leeport,” said Mrs. Burton thoughtfully. 

Miss Pitts beamed upon her friend admiringly. 
“ To think that you knew all about the boy and never 
said a word ! ” she said. 

“ I know all about the Higgins family,” rejoined 
her friend, with emphasis; “and I guess Amanda 
must have been different from the rest of her folks. 
You just ask Mr. Goddard to step over and see me 
some day soon.” 


T'he Little Runaways 


169 


“Yes, I will,” agreed Miss Pitts; “and I wanted to 
tell you that I have ripped up father’s gray melton 
overcoat, and sponged and pressed it, and I can get 
Phineas a real nice overcoat out of it.” 

“ Well, Eliza, that will be a help.” 

“ Of course he will have to have a cap ; but I guess 
we can manage,” said Miss Pitts smilingly; “and 
when the weather begins to get cool Cathie and 
Phinny must have their lunch with me. They can 
run right across from the schoolhouse, and I should 
like to have them.” 

“ You’re real good, Eliza, and I’ll be real glad to 
have them have a good warm lunch.” 

“ You know this is a sort of a partnership family, 
even if you won’t let Cathie live with me,” said Miss 
Pitts, smilingly. 

Do you know, Eliza, I have a great mind to adopt 
you, too,” said Mrs. Burton, with a little laugh. 
“ Phineas wants me to let him have the shed chamber 
for his room, and I guess he would enjoy it better, and 
there would be my spare-room all ready for you.” 

“ I should like it,” replied Miss Pitts seriously ; 
“ and if you really mean it, why, another spring I’ll 
sell my shop out to the Simpson girls — they have been 
wanting me to for some time — and move right over 


170 The Tittle Runaways 

here. I could share expenses and do my part of the 
work.’’ 

“That would be complete,” agreed Mrs. Burton. 
“ I’ll own up that since the children came ways and 
means have troubled me considerably, and I should 
enjoy your company, Eliza,” she added. 

Mr. Jones had paid Phineas the twenty dollars, and 
the boy had put it carefully away in his box. Cathie 
had told him that the first day of September was Mrs. 
Burton’s birthday, and he had resolved that he Avould 
make her a birthday present of the twenty dollars. 

“ I wish I could make her a present,” Cathie had 
said wistfully. 

“You can,” Phineas replied. “You can give her 
that bead picture of a house.” 

“ Oh, so I can ! Oh, Phinny, wasn’t it lucky that 
you happened to think of it ? It is all finished except 
sewing the beads on the roof. But it ought to be 
framed ! ” she added. “ Miss Pitts said that it ought 
to have glass over it and a frame.” 

“ We’ll make a frame,” said Phinny, courageously. 
“ I guess glass doesn’t matter much, and we can get 
some pretty alder sticks and cross the ends and make 
a nice frame. I’ll show you.” 

“Oh, will you, Phinny? Wouldn’t it be nice if we 


T^he Little Runaways 171 

could have a birthday party for my mother?” said 
Cathie. 

“We don’t know anybody to ask to it,” rejoined 
Phinny. 

“Oh, yes we do; we could ask Leander, and Mr. 
Goddard and Miss Pitts.” 

“ But what do they do at parties ? ” questioned 
Phineas. 

“Everybody is all dressed up,” replied Catherine 
soberly ; “ and they make presents and eat cake.” 

“ All right,” said Phinny ; “ let’s have a party.” 

“ But it must be a surprise. My mother mustn’t 
know it’s a party until it begins.” 

“ All right,” said Phineas. “ I’ll tell Leander.” 

“ And we will go together to tell Miss Pitts and 
Mr. Goddard,” said Cathie. 

“ Well, children,” said Mrs. Burton that night, as 
they sat down to the supper table, “ I wonder if you 
would like to go to a fair ? Mr. Goddard has been 
here this afternoon and invited us to go over to 
Starks to-morrow. Mr. Jones is going to hitch up his 
pair of horses and drive us over, and Mrs. Jones and 
Leander are going, and Miss Pitts and the Burton 
family.” 

“ Is it a long way ? ” asked Cathie. 


172 


The Tittle Runaways 


“ It is just six miles,” said Mrs. Burton. “ There is 
going to be a fair over there to-morrow and Mr. God- 
dard thought we would all enjoy going. It’s just 
like the Starks folks to have a fair in August. But 
I suppose they have it to amuse the summer visitors,” 
she concluded. 

Phinny’s eyes began to sparkle. “ I think it’s a real 
good plan,” he said, “ to have it before school begins. 
Len was telling me about the games, and he says that 
generally there’s a baseball match between the Starks 
boys and the Junction boys.” 

“ I guess there is,” said Mrs. Burton ; “ but to tell 
the truth I haven’t been to a fair for years. Mr. God- 
dard said that we’d make an early start, so you chil- 
dren must go to bed in good season to-night.” 

The next morning was clear and pleasant, and Cathie 
in her blue muslin dress and best hat was waiting at 
the gate when Mr. Jones and the big three-seated 
wagon, drawn by the brown horses, came in sight. 
Mrs. Burton and Fhinny brought out the lunch basket, 
and Leander packed it carefully away under the middle 
seat. Mr. Goddard and Miss Pitts were waiting, and 
they were soon on the road leading to Starks. 

“ I think we had better ford the river near the 


"The Ltittle Runaways 173 

Bunker place,” said Mr. Jones. “The^are not so 
many rocks there as further down.” 

The fording place was not very deep, the steady 
horses were not frightened, and when they drove up 
the opposite bank Mr. Goddard said, “Now we are 
in Starks.” 

“ Where is the fair ? ” asked Cathie, eagerly. 

“ Oh, the fair is over at the village, near the school- 
house,” answered Mr. Goddard. 

“ I guess it isn’t all there yet,” said Phinny, as they 
passed a man driving a pair of steers, and right be- 
hind him was a boy leading a colt. 

All along the road they now overtook people 
bound for the fair ; some were walking, some riding 
behind oxen or farm-horses, and occasionally a speedy 
horse attached to a shining wagon and driven by a 
brisk young farmer would dash past. As soon as they 
arrived at the village square Mr. Jones found a place 
to put up his horses, and drew the wagon under the 
shade of a big oak -tree near the schoolhouse. Mr. 
Jones, Phineas, Leander and Mr. Goddard went in 
search of the baseball game, while Mrs. Burton, Miss 
Pitts, Mrs. Jones and Cathie went into the school- 
house to look at the array of patchwork quilts, knit 


»74 


The Tittle Runaways 


bedspreads, cakes and preserves, that were displayed 
on long tables waiting for the prizes to be awarded. 

Cathie kept a tight hold on Miss Pitts’ hand, and 
looked admiringly at several quilts which had been 
made by little girls. 

“ Just look at this, Cathie,” said Mrs. Burton, point- 
ing out a quilt made in a star pattern of pieces of 
yellow and white calico. “ This was made by a little 
girl just your age.” 

“ Can’t I make one ? ” asked Cathie. 

Mrs. Burton nodded. ‘‘Yes, indeed you can. Pll 
cut you out some squares so you can have them to 
work on rainy Saturdays.” 

“ Perhaps I’d get a prize for it at the fair next 
year,” suggested Cathie. 

“ I shouldn’t wonder,” said Miss Pitts. 

“ Oh, what are they chasing that poor pig for ? ” ex- 
claimed Cathie. They had left the schoolhouse, and 
were now standing on the steps, and in the small field 
directly in front of the building a pig was running 
wildly about pursued by several young men. 

“ That is the greased pig race,” explained Mr. God- 
dard, who had come up the steps and stood beside 
them. “ The fellow who catches the pig has it for 
keeps.” 


175 


T'he Little Runaways 

The frightened little animal now dashed through 
a crowd of spectators, and into a growth of under- 
brush which bordered the enclosure, and disappeared 
from sight. 

“ They won’t get him at all now,” called out a man. 

“I hope they won’t,” said Mr. Goddard. “Poor 
little creature.” 

Len and Phinny now came running toward the 
steps. “ Oh, you must come and see the potato race,” 
said Len. “ Father is keeping a place for us,” and he 
hurried them toward the other side of the building. A 
man was walking along with a basket of potatoes, 
dropping them at irregular distances. 

Four men, bareheaded, and without their coats, 
stood in a line waiting. After the man had dropped 
all the potatoes he came back to where the runners 
were lined up. “ One, two, three ! ” he called, and 
away started the men, running as rapidly as possible, 
and stopping to pick up every potato they came across, 
dropping them into bags suspended from their 
shoulders. Before the race was finished every one of 
the contestants had had one or more tumbles. The 
winner reached the goal dusty and tired, but ready to 
laugh at his own mishaps. 

After this the crowd began to disappear, and Mr. 


176 


"The Liittle Runaways 


Jones hitched up the big horses and the little party 
started for home. 

“ I don’t know when I’ve had such a good time,” 
said Mrs. Burton, as they drove swiftly along. “ I 
declare I believe it does any one good to take a day off 
now and then.” 

“Of course it does,” said Mr. Goddard. “We’ll go 
next year.” 

“ It’s the best time I ever had,” said Cathie, snug- 
gling close to Mrs. Burton, and thinking about the 
wonderful star quilt, and about the surprise party for 
her mother’s birthday. 


CHAPTER XYIII 


MRS. burton’s surprise 

“Wouldn’t it have been nice if Phinny could have 
caught a little bear ? ” said Cathie the morning after 
the ride to Starks, as she and Mrs. Burton were gather- 
ing sage in the garden. 

“ What would Phineas want of a little bear ? ” ques- 
tioned Mrs. Burton. 

“ Oh, if he had caught one we could all pretend that 
it was a dog, and we could have taught it things, and 
it would have been most as good as a dog.” 

“ Does Phineas want a dog ? ” 

“Well, he likes Princess, but he thinks dogs are 
more useful than cats,” explained Cathie. “ He says 
Leander’s dog is a fine watch-dog, and that if we had 
a dog it would keep away foxes so they wouldn’t 
catch our chickens ! ” 

Mrs. Burton laughed. “ But I never knew of a fox 
to come near here,” she said. 

“He says a dog is a lot of company,” persisted 
Cathie. “ Leander knows of a man that wants to find 
a home for a nice puppy.” Mrs. Burton laughed 
again. 


177 


178 


The Tittle Runaways 


“ Now you run and call Phineas,” she said, “ and 
take this sage and a basket of eggs over to Miss 
Pitts.’’ 

“ Yes’m,” said Cathie, and in a few minutes the 
children were walking toward the village. 

Mrs. Burton stood at the gate and watched them. 

“ And to think that I never suspected that boy of 
being related to the Higginses,” she said. “ I did have 
an idea that Cathie might belong to the family, but I 
hadn’t a suspicion of Phineas ! ” 

“ To-day’s Thursday,” said Phineas, “ and I s’pose 
we had better ask Mr. Goddard and Miss Pitts to the 
party. Saturday is the first day of September.” 

Cathie nodded. “And school begins a week from 
Monday,” she responded. 

“ Yes,” said the boy, “ and if I get seventy cents for 
these raspberries I’ll have most enough for my shoes. 
Leander says good ones will cost about two dollars. 
Say, Cathie, Leander says he’s got a present for Mrs. 
Burton, too.” 

“ My, what is it ? ” 

“ He won’t tell ; but he says he knows she will be 
real pleased. I s’pose we had better stop and ask Mr. 
Goddard now, hadn’t we?” 

Cathie agreed, and the two children turned in at 



Mr. Goddard came out to speak to them 



T^he h,ittle Runaways 179 

the driveway leading to the large white house where 
the minister lived. “ I should think he’d be awful 
lonesome,” said Cathie, “ without any mother or any 
little girls and boys.” 

“ He’s got a housekeeper,” said Phineas, “ and he’s 
got a room with shelves all around it and the shelves 
are all filled with books ; I saw them the day he 
bought some blueberries.” 

“I wonder if he would have adopted me if I had 
asked him to,” Cathie said. “I did ask him about 
you, but he said ‘ No,’ right off.” 

“ I’m glad he did,” said Phinny. 

By this time the children were near the door, and 
Mr. Goddard came out to speak to them. 

“ More berries to sell, my boy ? ” he said with a pleas- 
ant smile. “Well, I’ll be glad to take them; you just 
wait here until I carry them to the kitchen.” In a 
moment he was back, and slipped a shining silver dol- 
lar into Phineas’ hand. 

“We came to ask you to come over to my house 
Saturday afternoon to my mother’s birthday party,” 
said Cathie. “ It is to be a s’prise to her,” she added. 

“And we are going to give her presents,” said 
Phinnie ; “ and so is Leander Jones.” 

“ That’s a fine idea,” responded Mr. Goddard. 


i8o T'he Liittle Runaways 

“ Now I should like to give her a present, too ; per- 
haps you can tell me of something that she would like 
to have ? ’’ 

“ I know,” said Cathie, eagerly. “ She wants a 
cow. She said she had a barn, and she had hay, and 
hadn’t any cow. She said that a cow would be half 
our living.” 

Mr. Goddard looked smilingly down into the little 
girl’s eager face. 

“ Why,” he said, “ now I think that it is very fortu- 
nate that Mrs. Burton should want a cow, for I have 
a nice red and white Jersey which I want to find a 
home for ; so I will have it sent over to your house in 
time for the party.” 

“ Gee,” said Phineas, half under his breath. 

“ Can you take care of a cow, my boy ? ” the min- 
ister asked, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder and 
looking at him with friendly eyes. 

“ I can learn, sir,” responded Phineas. 

“ That’s right ! ” said Mr. Goddard heartily. 

When the children reached Miss Pitts’ shop and 
told her about the party, and of Mr. Goddard’s pres- 
ent, she was as pleased as they were. 

Poor man,” she said. “ I hear that his house- 
keeper is going to leave and that he is talking of rent- 


T^he h,itth Runaways i8i 

ing his house, so I guess he will be pleased to find a 
home for the cow ; but it’s a handsome present. 
Can’t you think of something for me to give her ? ” 

“ I s’pose we ought to have a cake for a birthday 
party,” said Catherine. 

“ Of course we had ! ” agreed Miss Pitts, “ and I’ll 
make as nice a cake as I can, and that shall be my 
present.” 

‘‘ Doesn’t everything happen just right ? ” said 
Cathie, as the two children started for home. “ And 
won’t my mother be surprised with so many nice 
presents ? I wish she was your mother, too, Phinny.” 

“ I like her just as well as you do,” responded the 
boy, “ and I’m going to earn money and buy her a 
horse.” 

“ Oh, Phinny, when are you going to buy it ? ” ex- 
claimed the little girl. 

“ When I get big enough to earn a lot of money.” 

“ Oh,” said Cathie, in rather a despondent tone. 
She had hoped that the horse was to be a birthday 
present also. 

Do you know what a quilting is, Phinny ? ” she 
asked. 

The boy shook his head. 

“ Well, I do, and Mrs. Jones is going to have one,” 


i 82 


T'he Ljittle Runaways 


said Cathie. “ She has asked my mother and Miss 
Pitts, and you and I and Mr. Goddard are to come to 
tea.” 

“ When is she going to have it ? ” 

“ To-morrow, and my mother says that perhaps, she 
isn’t sure, but she thinks, perhaps, Mrs. Jones will let 
me quilt a little.” 

“ Can I see how they do it ? ” questioned Phineas. 

Cathie nodded. “ My mother is to ‘ mark off,’ ” she 
said. 

“ What’s that ? ” questioned Phineas. 

“ You’ll see to-morrow,” answered Cathie. 

Early the next afternoon the quilting party were 
gathered in Mrs. Jones’s pleasant sitting-room, and 
Cathie and Phineas stood near the open door watch- 
ing Mrs. Burton with great interest. 

“ As long as it is a star quilt,” said Mrs. Burton, “ I 
think the diamond pattern will be the best.” Mrs. 
Jones handed her a piece of blue chalk, and a ball of 
twine, and Mrs. Burton chalked the twine carefully. 
“ I guess Phinny can help me ‘ mark off,’ ” she said, 
smiling at the boy. “ You just stand right over there, 
Phineas, and hold this twine close down to the quilt, 
and hold it steady.” 


The Little Runaways 183 

“Yes’m,” said Phineas. Then Mrs. Burton drew 
the chalked twine as closely to the quilt as possible, 
and holding it firmly down with one hand lifted the 
cord with the other and let it snap back, leaving a dis- 
tinct blue line, along which the quilters would set 
their neat stitches. In a short time the quilt was 
marked off in diamond-shaped lines and the quilters 
were ready to begin work. Phineas and Len disap- 
peared, but Cathie, greatly to her satisfaction, was 
given a seat beside Miss Pitts, and allowed to set a 
row of stitches along the blue chalk line. 

“ I declare I didn’t know as I should ever get a 
chance at a quilt again,” said Miss Pitts. Why, 
twenty years ago I came over here to a quilting in this 
very room. It was in the winter time, and going 
home in the evening our horse got frightened at some 
foolish thing, and we were all spilled out into the 
softest snowbank you ever saw,” and she laughed at 
the remembrance. “ But the horse set forth for home 
at such a pace that none of us could catch him, and 
father and mother and I had to walk every step of the 
way. Over a mile it was, too, and the road not very 
well broken out, at that.” 

Mrs. Burton stopped work and looked toward her 


184 “The Liittle Runaways 

friend. “ Now, I never heard about that before,” she 
said, “ and I was here at that very quilting.” 

“ Well, it’s old news now,” said Miss Fitts. “ I re- 
call it well enough. I spoiled my best shoes.” 

“Now, Cathie,” said Mrs. Jones, “I want you to 
remember your first quilting, so 1 have a little present 
for you, something you can keep a good while. Shut 
your eyes tight.” 

As Cathie shut her eyes she felt something slip over 
her head, and when Mrs. Jones said, “Now you can 
open your eyes,” she looked down and there around 
her neck was the dearest little gold chain with a tiny 
heart on it. 

“ Oh,” said Cathie, “ is that for my very own, to 
keep ? ” 

“ Yes, indeed,” said Mrs. Jones. “ It was given to 
me when I was a little girl, and I think I have been 
keeping it for you.” 

“ I think quiltings are lovely,” said Cathie, after she 
had thanked Mrs. Jones. “ I’ll always remember about 
this one.” 

As Phinny and Cathie walked home from the quilt- 
ing the boy said : “ Oh, Len says he has the nicest 

present for Mrs. Burton.” 

“ As nice as a cow ? ” questioned Cathie. 


T'he Liittle Runaways 185 

“ A lot nicer, Len says,” he answered ; “ but he 
won’t tell me what it is.” 

****** 

“ Well, children, this is my birthday,” said Mrs. Bur- 
ton on Saturday morning, “and I thought we would 
have a little celebration in honor of it, so I am going 
to have a party.” 

“ Oh ! ” exclaimed Cathie and Phineas in such tones 
of surprise that Mrs. Burton laughed heartily. 

“ Didn’t you ever hear of a birthday party ? ” she 
asked. “ Well, mine won’t be a very large one. I have 
only asked Mr. and Mrs. Jones and Leander and Miss 
Pitts and the minister to come over this afternoon and 
take tea with us.” 

“ Oh, we were going to give you a s’prise, and we 
had asked them too,” said Cathie. 

“ Well,” replied Mrs. Burton, “ now we are all sur- 
prised together,” but she looked at them affectionately 
and thought what good children they were. 

“ But we each have a present for you,” said Cathie ; 
“ shall we give them to you now or wait until the 
party comes ? ” 

Mrs. Burton saw Phinny’s eager look and knew that 
neither he nor Cathie would wish to wait until after- 
noon, and replied, “ I think I should like to have your 


i86 T^he Little Runaways 

presents this very minute.’^ Away went both the 
children to their own rooms and were back in a 
minute. 

“You know I killed a bear,” began Phineas, both 
hands behind him. Mrs. Burton nodded in response. 
“ Mr. Jones said it was mine to keep or to sell, and I 
sold it to him for this,” and Phineas reached out a 
crisp new twenty-dollar bill toward Mrs. Burton, “ and 
I give it to you,” the boy’s voice faltered a little, but 
he had resolved to tell her, “ because I like you just 
the same way that other boys like their mothers.” 

Catherine’s hands were also behind her. “And I 
made this for you because you are my truly mother,” 
she said, holding toward Mrs. Burton the bead picture 
prettily framed in twigs of alder. 

Mrs. Burton looked at them in astonishment. 

“ If this don’t beat all,” she said. “ Phineas, I 
might just as well tell you now that I think just as 
much of you as I would of a boy of my own, and that 
you are a sort of relation of mine anyway ; your mother 
was a Higgins, and her mother was my own cousin.” 

The children both looked at her in wonder. “ And 
as for your presents, I never had such nice birthday 
presents before in all my life, nor presents that I shall 
think as much of,” and she held up the little framed 


T^he L,ittle Runaways 187 

picture and looked at it admiringly. “ I shall will this 
to your little girls,” she said to Cathie ; “ and I shall 
hang it in the parlor right ovei* the mantel. And 
your money, my boy,” she continued, smiling at 
Phineas, “ I shall try and save for you.” 

But Phineas shook his head vigorously. “No,” 
he said, “ I want you to buy something for yourself 
with it.” 

“Well, then I will,” agreed Mrs. Burton. 

“ And am I truly a relation of yours ?” asked Phinny 
anxiously. 

“Yes, and whaPs more, I have adopted you,” 
answered Mrs. Burton. “ I have been writing to the 
asylum about it, and when I went to the village last 
week I had the papers all ready, yours and Cathie’s, 
and I signed both before Judge King. So you are 
really my boy now and must call me mother.” 

“My,” said Cathie. “Oh, Phinny, wasn’t it lucky 
we found my mother ? ” 

But Phinny had turned his face toward the wall, 
and Mrs. Burton could see that the boy was crying. 
She went toward him, and putting her arm about him 
kissed him tenderly. “There, don’t cry,” she said. 
“ I want to tell you about ray party. I asked our 
friends to come so that I could tell them you were 


i88 


The Tittle Runaways 


both truly my children, and I meant to have told you 
both at the same time, but I guess it is better for you 
to know it first.” 

“ Leander has a present for you too, mother,” said 
Phineas, eager to make his new claim seem real. 

“Has he? Well, I must send you children out to 
get me some fresh raspberries ; I want to make Mr. 
Goddard a raspberry short-cake for his tea, poor man,” 
and with a smile at the children’s happy faces Mrs. 
Burton took Cathie’s little picture into the parlor and 
hung it over the mantel. 


CHAPTEK XIX 


THE BIRTHDAY PARTY 

Phineas almost forgot about the party in his new 
happiness. “ Is my name ‘ Burton ’ now, the same as 
yours and Cathie’s ? ” he asked eagerly when he 
brought in the basket heaped high with raspberries. 

“ Your name is Phineas Trot Burton,” replied Mrs. 
Burton ; “ but I look to you, Phinny, just as I said 
when we had our first talk, to do a good deal of your 
own bringing up. You have done real well so far. 
I expect Miss Pitts and Mr. Goddard will be surprised 
at our news. The fact is, Phineas, that I began to be 
afraid Mr. Goddard would get you away from me,” 
and Mrs. Burton nodded smilingly. 

“He didn’t want to adopt me, did he?” asked 
Phineas. 

“ Well, he began to show symptoms of it,” replied 
Mrs. Burton; “and he told me last week that he 
wanted to set up a mark in our pasture and teach you 
to shoot.” 

Phinny smiled at this. “You wouldn’t want me 

to do that, would you, mother?” he replied. 

189 


190 


The Little Runaways 


“ Well, I don’t know as I shall object now if the 
minister speaks of it again. I hear he is a real good 
shot, and all I ask is to see you grow up as good a man 
as Mr. Goddard.” 

Phinny’s face brightened. “ He can take pictures, 
too,” said the boy. “ He showed me some fine pictures 
of cows, and of birds, and of trees and all kinds of 
places.” 

“ Did he ? Well, poor man, I expect he would have 
enjoyed having a nice boy like you, Phineas ; but you 
see your mother being a Higgins gave me the first 
claim, and Mr. Goddard will always take an interest 
in you.” 

Early that afternoon Cathie, in a new pink muslin 
dress, and Princess with a blue ribbon around her 
neck, were sitting on the front steps waiting, as Cathie 
said, for the party to come. Phineas in his new clothes 
with his hair neatly brushed, was standing at the side 
door looking across the fields in the direction from 
which Leander would come. 

“I wish I knew what his present is,” Phineas 
thought. “ He said that even his mother and father 
didn’t know about it.” 

Mrs. Burton, in her gray muslin with her best lace 
collar, was looking about the parlor to see that every- 


'The Tittle Runaways 


191 


thing was in order. The parlor was a large room, and 
was seldom opened. Mrs. Burton always declared 
that no one in the village had a better furnished par- 
lor than she had ; but she found the sitting-room more 
comfortable for every-day living. She had' just put 
the children’s adoption papers on the marble-topped 
centre-table when she heard steps on the path and 
heard Mr. and Mrs. Jones speaking to Cathie. She 
hurried to the door to welcome them. 

“ Where is Leander ? ” she asked. 

“ Oh, he is coming across the fields,” answered Mrs. 
Jones with a little laugh. “ He has a birthday present 
for you, Mrs. Burton, but it is such a secret that even 
his father and I cannot imagine what it is,” and Mrs. 
Jones set down a good-sized package on the table. 
“ That is a little remembrance from Mr. Jones and 
me,” she concluded ; “ and there isn’t a bit of a mys- 
tery about our present. I’ll tell you what it is right 
now. It is ” 

“ Oh, Mrs. Jones ! ” exclaimed Cathie, “ please wait 
for the rest of the party, and then my mother can 
have all her s’prises at once.” 

‘‘I guess that would be the better way,” agreed 
Mrs. Jones, looking at Cathie kindly. “ How I wonder 
why you stopped here last May,” she continued. “ I 


192 


The Tittle Runaways 


should like to have a little girl just like you. Now if 
you had only kept on a little way and had stopped at 
my house why perhaps you would have been my little 
girl.” 

Cathie smiled back happily. “ But you wouldn’t 
have wanted Phinny,” she said. 

“ She was set on having Phineas adopted from the 
moment she came into this house,” explained Mrs. 
Burton. 

“ I hear Mr. Goddard is thinking of adopting him,” 
said Mrs. Jones. 

“ Oh, he can’t. Phinny is ” and then Cathie re- 

membered, and put her hand tight over her mouth 
and ran back to the front door to watch for the rest of 
the party. As she sat there looking down the road 
she saw a man coming slowly along leading a red and 
white cow. 

“ There comes my mother’s birthday present,” she 
whispered to Princess. 

The man stopped in front of the house. 

Will you take this letter in to Mrs. Burton ? ” 
he asked, holding out an envelope toward Cathie ; 
“ and ask her if she will please step to the door 
and tell me where to put the cow.” 

“Yes, sir,” said Cathie, and ran down the path 


iChe Liittle Runaways 193 

and took the letter and carried it in to Mrs. 
Burton. 

Mrs. Burton opened the note and read it. “My 
soul!” she exclaimed, “if this don’t beat all,” and 
she hurried down the path to speak to the man. 

“Mr. Goddard has sent my mother a cow for a 
birthday present,” Cathie explained to Mrs. Jones ; 
and Mrs. Jones hurried after Mrs. Burton to look at 
and admire the red and white Jersey. 

The door of the little barn was wide open, and a 
nice stall was all ready. 

“I believe you children knew about it,” said Mrs. 
Burton, as the man showed Phinny how to tie the 
cow in the stall. 

“ I’ll come over and teach you to milk, Phineas,” 
said Mr. Jones. 

“ I seem to have everything I want,” said Mrs. 
Burton as they went back to the house ; “ but Mr. 
Goddard is most too generous to me.” 

Soon after this Miss Pitts and Mr. Goddard ar- 
rived, and Miss Pitts carried the birthday cake 
into the pleasant kitchen, where Mrs. Burton had 
set her tea-table with her best damask cloth and 
her best pink china. Then Mrs. Jones was allowed 
to open the package and show Mrs, Burton a dozen 


194 T^he Little Runaways 

glass goblets, which Mrs. Burton was greatly pleased 
with. 

“ Now the party is all here except Leander,” said 
Cathie, and just then a strange noise was heard at the 
side door and Phineas ran out to see what it was. 

“ Oh, mother, come quick,” he called, and all the 
“ party ” hurried to the side door. There stood 
Leander and Phineas beaming with smiles, and be- 
tween them stood a half-grown collie dog. 

“ I brought you this nice dog for a present, Mrs. 
Burton,” said Leander. “ A man I know wanted a 
good home for him, and I remembered that you 
didn’t have any dog, so I knew you’d be glad to have 
him.” 

“ Oh, Phinny, isn’t it lovelv to have a dog ! ” ex- 
claimed Cathie, reaching out to rub the puppy’s 
smooth head. “ What is his name, Leander ? ” 

“His name is ‘ Mike,’ ” said Leander. “It isn’t a 
very pretty name, but he is a fine dog.” Phinny had 
knelt down beside the dog, and was smoothing it and 
talking to it ; the older members of the party stood 
silent. 

“ Leander ! ” said his mother reprovingly, “ you 
ought to have spoken^ to me about this ; perhaps Mrs. 
Burton doesn’t want a dog ! ” 


‘The Tittle Runaways 


195 


“ Oh, yes, she does, don’t you, mother ? ” said Cathie. 
‘‘ We’ve got a cat and a cow and I think it’s real lucky 
Leander happened to think of a dog, don’t you, 
mother ? ” 

Mrs. Burton looked at Phinny’s happy face, and 
then noticed Leander’s anxious look. 

“ Of course I want a nice dog like that,” she said 
heartily ; “ and I’m much obliged to you, Leander. 
Now Phinny, can’t you find a place for ‘ Mike ’ in the 
shed, and we will have a cup of tea and a piece of my 
birthday cake.” 

While Phinny and Leander were trying to persuade 
“ Mike ” to forget that he was homesick, Mrs. Burton 
led her friends back to the parlor and, taking the 
adoption papers from the table, handed them to Mr. 
Goddard. 

“I wanted to tell you,” she said, looking at her 
friends with a happy smile, “ that Phineas is a relative 
of mine; Mr. Goddard discovered that for me; and 
beside that I love the boy dearly, and I have legally 
adopted him and given him my name. Those papers, 
Mr. Goddard, will show that now I have two children, 
Catherine and Phineas.” 

“ And you forget that you are going to take me 
too,” said Miss Pitts. 


196 "The Little Runaways 


“ 'No, indeed, Eliza, but I have got to wait for an- 
other spring before I can count on you.” 

“ Well, you will have quite a family, Mrs. Burton,” 
said Mr. Goddard. “ I wish I might be a member of 
it. I am going to rent my house for the winter; 
couldn’t you find a corner for me ? ” 

“ Why, he could have your spare-room until spring, 
couldn’t he?” suggested Miss Pitts. “And you 
could let him have your parlor for a study.” 

“ I guess Mr. Goddard doesn’t mean it,” said Mrs. 
Burton. 

“Indeed I do,” replied the minister. “I’ll come 
next week if you’ll let me.” 

Mrs. Burton laughed heartily. “ Did you ever see the 
beat ? ” she asked. “ Here last April I was all alone. 
Then Cathie and Phineas walked in and decided to 
stay, then Eliza thought I would need her. Mr. 
Goddard says he wanted a home for his cow and sent 
it over ; Leander wanted a home for Mike ; and now 
here is the minister himself wanting to be one of my 
family. Here comes my son,” she added, as Phineas 
and Leander appeared in the doorway. “ I shall have 
to see what he says about it. Phinny, Mr. Goddard 
wants to come and live with us ; what do you think 
about having him ? ” 


T'he Little Runaways 


197 


“Gee,” said Phinny, smiling at the minister, “I 
think it would be great ; will you come to-morrow, sir ? ” 
“ My son seems to approve,” laughed Mrs. Burton. 
Then the birthday cake was cut, and Cathie and 
Phineas, with Mrs. Burton sitting between them, 
smiled across the table toward the pleasant faces of 
Miss Pitts and Mr. Goddard. 

“Well, Cathie,” said the minister, “do you want 
me to adopt Phinny now ? ” 

Cathie shook her head. “He’s really and truly 
’dopted now, isn’t he, mother ? ” 

“Yes, really and truly,” replied Mrs. Burton. 


THE END 


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